Trump's bizarre music session once again raises questions about his mental capacity

Donald Trump's campaign wants its candidate to talk more about politics, but Monday night was all about the music.

Trump was in Oaks, Pennsylvania, to host a town hall event of this kind that his aides hope will keep the former president on track and talk about both his policy positions and those of his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. But the evening quickly took a bizarre turn after two rally participants suffered medical problems.

Instead of continuing after paramedics helped the two people, Trump instructed his staff to simply play music from a playlist he had personally curated and is known to often play during dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

“Who the hell wants to hear questions?” Trump said at the event, which focused primarily on answering questions from the audience. “Right?”

What followed was more than 30 minutes of Trump swaying on stage, occasionally doing his trademark two-handed dance to some of his favorite songs, chatting with the event's host, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and occasionally with attendees in attendance interacted sitting backstage.

“This is the strangest church service I've ever attended,” one attendee, attending a rally for the first time without giving his name, told NBC News about the music portion of the event, which began with “Ave Maria.”

In general, Trump supporters in attendance said they enjoyed the moment and saw it as a chance to engage with their preferred presidential candidate.

“I really enjoyed it,” said Jay Bauer, who attended from Montgomery County. “I felt like I was sitting in the same room with him. Only him. I could have been here for another hour, two more hours. I just enjoyed spending time with the president.”

Bauer's wife, Janice Bauer, said she expected him to “answer more questions” but her opinion of Trump had not changed.

“I thought he would talk longer,” she said. “But I’ll still vote for him. I think he is a very good candidate. … The concert was great.”

The unorthodox event occurred not only just weeks before Election Day in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, but also at a time when Democrats have sought to focus increasing attention on Trump's mental acuity and the 78-year-old's fitness as president act.

“Voters are just starting to tune in, and objectively speaking, they see a diminished Trump, one who ends up talking for hours, making no sense, freezing up for 30 minutes and forcing people to listen to his Spotify playlist. This is bizarre and raises more and more concerns for voters, said a Harris campaign adviser who also previously worked for President Joe Biden.

Over the weekend, Harris released a summary of her medical history and used the moment to suggest that Trump was not up to the task since he has so far refused to release his own.

“You have to ask yourself … are they afraid that people will see that he is too weak and unstable to lead America?” she said. “Is that what’s going on?”

Harris seemed to reiterate that sentiment after Trump's town hall, writing on social media: “I hope he's doing well.” A post from her campaign said Trump appeared “lost, confused and frozen on stage.”

Questions about Biden's mental capacity, particularly after his disastrous debate performance in June, ultimately forced the 81-year-old out of the race. Democrats are now increasingly trying to flip the script on Trump, who would be the oldest president-elect if he wins in November.

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, took a more direct approach, calling the incident “not small.”

“It shows that he is increasingly distancing himself from reality,” Schatz posted. “Everyone knows if Biden or Harris did that, it would be media chaos. He’s not feeling well and you can’t ignore it any longer.”

In a social media post overnight, Trump called Harris' request to release his medical records “desperate.”

“She's dying to see my cholesterol (which is 180!). I have stated them many times, including recently, and they have been flawless,” Trump wrote at 12:43 a.m. Tuesday.

Trump did not release his medical records during his run for president this cycle.

His campaign said that not only was there no problem with Trump during the town hall meeting, but that the music-filled moment showed such a strong connection with his supporters that people swooned.

“Total love fest at PA City Hall!” Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the campaign, posted on social media Monday evening. “Nobody wanted to go and hear more songs from the famous DJT Spotify playlist!”

A short time later, an official statement from the campaign proactively rejected the suggestion that the hearing was an indication that Trump was mentally declining.

“President Trump has more energy and tenacity than anyone in politics and is the smartest leader this country has ever seen,” the statement said. “He attends multiple public events every day and the public can see that he is sharper and more focused than ever before because the future of America is at stake.”

On Tuesday, Cheung told NBC News that the listening session was “out of respect for those who passed out at the event because they were so excited to see President Trump.”

“He made the decision to entertain the audience with music and everyone loved it,” Cheung said.

A person close to the campaign reiterated that employees enjoyed the event.

“Just the president enjoying a moment with supporters,” the person said. “I think he's just taking it all in. We have a good feeling when it comes to the numbers. He knows this is the last stretch of his final run.”

Once it was clear that Trump wanted to hear music, behind-the-scenes campaign officials began scrambling to accommodate the request. According to a source familiar with the evening, a campaign staffer would write down the songs he knew Trump wanted to hear on a piece of paper and give them to the audio staffer who would play the music.

The town hall resulted in Trump arriving late to a telerally with Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania. Trump jumped onto an administrative line that had been set up for staff members just before the call began, and when told he was 45 minutes late, he told participants, “I was just listening to music with these people and it.” was great. OK, let’s get started,” said one person on the phone.

Another person familiar with the event told NBC News they understood the appearance of awkwardness as the event turned from a town hall into a music listening session, but that it was due to a miscommunication with Noem following the medical issues. From the stage, she tried to end the event even though Trump wanted to answer two more questions – which didn't happen due to the miscommunication; Trump then simply let the music continue playing, the source said.

A day after the event, attendee Cecilia Harkness told NBC News that she enjoyed the Trump-led music festival and said she would have no criticism if Harris had been put in the same situation.

“I wouldn’t care if there was a situation that warranted this, like what happened last night,” she said.