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During a Monday night rally for Donald Trump in Youngstown, Ohio, video captured a protester being pummeled by MAGA supporters as the president joked about her weight.
The president was talking about Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown when the cameras cut to a commotion in the crowd.
A protester, who appeared to be a woman, was standing up, showing off a t-shirt that said: “Release the Epstein Files.” Multiple attendees near her then began pulling at her clothing.
One man appeared to shove her backwards. Another seemed to strike her in the face and pull her hair while the crowd chanted: “USA, USA, USA.”
Police ultimately intervened and escorted the woman out of the Covelli Centre as Trump began commenting on the situation from the podium.
‘Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy,’ Trump said from the podium while the protester was escorted from the arena. ‘Wow, wow. Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do’ (AFP via Getty Images)
“He’s a paid protester,” Trump said. “They’re all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to Mom. He’s going back home to Mom.”
“Look at him,” the president continued. “Terrible. Don’t we love law enforcement? Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy. Wow, wow. Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do.”
Asked by a TMZ reporter why she had chosen to protest, the person said: “F*** Donald Trump.”
Clips of the incident went viral, garnering millions of views. A number of commenters called on the violent attendees to be arrested and urged the woman to press charges.
“Why wasn’t the person who was assaulting them arrested?” wrote one X user.
“The men who hit that person need to ALL get hit with charges. Also, a fat joke coming from him? That’s rich,” another chimed in.
Clips of the incident went viral with a number of commenters calling on the violent attendees to be arrested or for the woman to press charges (AFP via Getty Images)
“She gets assaulted by a group of men and she’s the one escorted out by police. What??” political commentator Keith Edwards questioned.
“I hope she presses charges,” one user wrote. Another added: “She needs to file a lawsuit ASAP. Civil assault and battery.”
Some commenters, meanwhile, accused the woman of being a “paid agitator” and also made fun of her weight.
The incident comes less than one week after a Trump rally in Texas turned violent. On October 7, Trump was addressing a crowd in San Antonio, when a person near the stage, apparently a protester, began yelling. At one point, a man grabbed that individual’s hair and yanked them to the ground.
“Let me ask you a question: is there anything like a Trump rally? Is there anything like it?” Trump said from the stage. “I don’t think so.”