Donald Trump has been mocked on social media after making a number of gaffes during a campaign rally.
The former president made a speech in Sioux City, western Iowa, on Sunday, ahead of the state’s Republican presidential caucuses in January; his eighth campaign event in the state in a little over a month.
During the speech at the Orpheum Theater, he said he would win Iowa, saying “there’s no way Iowa is voting against Trump,” and stepped up criticism of fellow Republican primary candidate, South Caroline Gov. Nikki Haley, who he called “bird brain” and “a highly overrated person.”
But he also made a number of errors, not missed by X, formerly Twitter, users.
Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
When he took to the stage he greeted a city more than 80 miles north, and over the state line in South Dakota. “Hello to a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls. Thank you very much,” he said.
Republican Iowa state Sen. Bradley Zaun appeared on stage a few minutes later and whispered the correct location, Sioux City, in Trump’s ear.
The former president nodded and said “Oh,” before going back to the microphone and correcting himself by saying: “So, Sioux City, let me ask you, how many people come from Sioux City, how many people? How many? Who doesn’t come from Sioux City? Where the hell do you come from?”
In response, the campaign group Republicans Against Trump called him “unfit”.
Trump: “Hello to a place where we’ve done very well, Sioux Falls. Thank you very much.”
A Republican Iowa state senator rushed to the stage to remind the confused Florida man that he is in Sioux City.
Unfit. pic.twitter.com/1gBnYCYbCr
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) October 30, 2023
Another X user wrote: “So Trump went to Sioux City, Iowa, today and told them he was thrilled to be in Sioux Falls (South Dakota). Nice move, dude!”
Then, he mispronounced Canada as “Canya” while speaking about trade deals, minutes after mocking President Joe Biden for his supposed inability to read teleprompters.
He was the subject of derision again from people on X.
It is not the first time recently that Trump has made geography blunders during key rallies. Last week, the former president praised Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister during a speech in Derry, New Hampshire, but mistakenly called him “the leader of Turkey.”
Meanwhile, over the weekend, Trump urged his former Vice President Mike Pence to endorse him in the 2024 primary election race after he dropped out of the campaign.
On Monday, a trial will begin in Colorado over a lawsuit seeking to block Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot based on the 14th Amendment and its ban on insurrectionists running for office.
Newsweek has contacted Trump via email for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.