Trump suffered a 'stunning rebuke' in disastrous Saturday night speech: analyst

Donald Trump's attempt to reach out to Libertarian voters could hardly have gone worse after he was chased from the stage 34 minutes into his speech, exiting to boos and jeering.

That is the opinion of the Guardian's David Smith, who called the former president's appearance at the Saturday night gathering at the Washington Hilton a "rare humiliation" for Trump who is used to adoring MAGA crowds.

Pointing to the response to Trump as he spoke where he was cursed, booed mercilessly and called a "wannabe dictator," the analyst suggested the reception was illustrative of the former president's uphill battle to expand his voting base less than six months before the November election.

"Trump’s rocky ride at a Washington hotel on Saturday night, including cries of 'B------t!' and 'F--- you!', underlined the challenge that the Republican presidential nominee faces to broaden his appeal both left and right on the political spectrum," he wrote before adding, "It was a stunning rebuke for a man who has become accustomed to cult-like rallies where his every word is cheered to the echo."

"The Republican promised that, if elected, he would put a Libertarian in his cabinet and others in senior posts. Again the crowd made clear its dissent. Ever the salesman, Trump prodded: 'Pretty good. That’s pretty big.' But this time the old tricks did not work," Smith reported before adding the former president attempted to talk over the jeering crowd and pleading, "No, you want to make yourself winners, it’s time to be winners. You have a lot of common sense.”

According to Smith, the former president's words fell on deaf ears, with one attendee explaining, "It was a lot of politicking. He came here to tell us to pull our people’s votes towards him using the fear of Joe Biden’s presidency. But real men and women vote on integrity.”

Another added, "He’s full of s--t.”

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