Microphone malfunction: Trump waits on stage for 18 minutes during 'technical difficulties'
Donald Trump's rally in Detroit hit a snag on Friday night when the audio stopped working and the Republican presidential nominee passed the time walking around on the stage for about 18 minutes waiting for a fix.
The former president was in the middle of a riff about the economy in Michigan's largest city when his microphone cut out.
He tried another hand-held microphone that didn't work. Trump then walked around on the stage, talking to staffers amid cheers from the crowd, which at one point launched into a wave to pass the time.
"Technical difficulties," read a sign displayed to the crowd. "Complicated business."
On the Right Side Broadcast Network, which was live streaming Trump's rally, an announcer said Trump's campaign approached their staff "to see if we can help out with one of our microphones."
After about 15 minutes, music kicked in - Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" - and Trump's microphone started working after a few more minutes of delay.
"I won't pay the bill for this stupid company that rented us this c---," Trump said. "I won't pay the bill and then we'll have a story that Trump didn't pay the bill to a contractor."
A Trump campaign spokeswoman had no immediate comment to the Detroit Free Press, a USA TODAY Network partner. A spokesperson for Huntington Place, the convention center in Detroit where the event took place, could not immediately be reached.
The rapid response team for Kamala Harris' campaign immediately posted video on X of Trump's rally by highlighting how he "awkwardly walks in circles on stage" during the microphone malfunction.
Friday's technical difficulties came a few days after another awkward Trump campaign event in Pennsylvania. There, a pair of medical emergencies prompted the Republican nominee to suspend a town hall and instead launch a mini-concert where Trump stood on the stage perfectly still and at other times he bobbed like a robot to the music.
Democrats including Harris, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama have mocked Trump over the music-and-dance-a-thon. "Can you imagine if I did that?" Obama said during a Friday rally in Tucson, Arizona. "Now, our playlist would probably be better."
(This story has been updated with more information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump waits on Detroit stage for 18 minutes during mic malfunction