Trump Camp
In first rally as presumptive nominee, Donald Trump mimes coal mining, slams modern hair spray
Donald Trump told a crowd of 12,000 people in Charleston, West Virginia, on Thursday night that he is disappointed the Republican primary is over, because "it's no fun this way." His campaign had invited hundreds of coal miners to stand behind him for his first rally as presumptive Republican nominee, and Trump touted an endorsement from the West Virginia Coal Association, criticized Hillary Clinton for saying she wants to phase out coal energy, and said, "We need to put our miners back to work!" He then put on a mining helmet the coal association had given him, fussed with his hair, and went on an extended riff about hair spray.
"You know, you're not allowed to use hair spray any more because it affects the ozone — you know that, right?" Trump said. "Hair spray is not like it used to be. It used to be real good ... In the old days, when you put on the hair spray on, it was good. Today you put the hair spray on, it's good for 12 minutes, right? ... So I said, 'If I take hairspray, and I spray it in my apartment — which is all sealed — and you're telling me that affects the ozone layer? Yes. I say, no way, folks." (Unless he buys his hair spray from a developing country, he's right — ozone-depleting CFC aerosol sprays were banned in the U.S. during the Reagan administration.)
Trump didn't just go after Clinton on coal. He said the Clinton Foundation is "disgusting," talked about the FBI investigation into her emails, and in criticizing NAFTA and other trade deals signed by Bill Clinton, alluded to Bill Clinton's extramarital dalliances. "The Clinton administration, of which Hillary was definitely a part — she was a part of almost everything. Almost, I say, not everything. Almost," Trump said, pausing for comic effect. Then he pretended to scold the crowd's dirty minds: "Terrible. I didn’t think the people of West Virginia thought about that. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Terrible, terrible people."