Democrats mocked Trump's musical town hall in Philly suburbs. His supporters called it a 'celebration of patriotism.'

PHILADELPHIA — For days, critics have pointed to former President Donald Trump's unusual musical town hall in Montgomery County as a sign the candidate may not be up for another four-year term. CNN drew attention to the "confusion" when Trump stopped taking questions from the crowd in favor of swaying on stage to his playlist for 30 minutes after two medical emergencies disrupted the event. On Tuesday, the X account Republicans Against Trump posted on the platform that Trump "is unraveling in front of our eyes."

But for local Republicans like Val Biancaniello, a GOP activist in Delaware County, the impromptu concert was "a beautiful celebration of patriotism," she said in a text message. Trump stopped taking questions out of respect for those who needed to be taken out of the town hall, she suggested.

"He is compassionate and he leads from the front in every situation as he demonstrated on Monday evening," Biancaniello said.

Tom DiBello, a Republican Montgomery County commissioner, said that while the event — Trump's first appearance in the voter-rich Philly suburbs — wasn't a typical town hall, it signaled to him that Trump is "very creative and on the spot as far as he does things."

DiBello, who attended the event, said Trump prolonged the playlist party because he saw his audience was energized and inspired by the music.

"'Ave Maria' is a very inspirational song for many people," DiBello said of the Trump favorite that he played twice.

Matt Lamorgese, 31, the chair of Philadelphia Young Republicans, said the former president was just having a good time with his supporters.

"I think what President Trump was trying to do, which is what he always is trying to do, is to deliver a great experience for the people who come out to see him," Lamorgese said. "So he said, 'Let's have a little fun,' and unfortunately, it seems that it was taken the wrong way."

Right-leaning media like Fox News and the New York Post blamed the town hall ending early on the medical emergencies that erupted in the crowd, with the latter saying Trump was "forced" to cut it short. But Trump has paused his rallies for medical emergencies before — including recently at his Butler, Pa., comeback rally when supporters broke into song as emergency responders tended to an audience member. But once it was dealt with, Trump went on speaking per usual.

Monday was different. Trump didn't end the event, but he also didn't keep it going.

"Let's not do any more questions," Trump said Monday. "Let's just listen to music. ... Who the hell wants to hear questions?"

On CNN, commentator Jonah Goldberg, the cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Dispatch, a conservative news website, described the musical interlude as "strange" and said Trump "went with an unorthodox way of getting around taking questions."

MSNBC commentators said that Trump is getting more "erratic" by the day and that he "just shut down."

Before ditching the Q&A format, Trump flubbed the date of the Nov. 5 election — telling supporters to vote on Jan. 5 — and often delivered long, rambling answers to the friendly questions. Harris' campaign said in an X post shared shortly after the event ended that Trump appeared "lost, confused, and frozen on stage."

Just one day earlier, Harris criticized the 78-year-old former president for refusing to release comprehensive medical records. And the day after, President Joe Biden, 81, mocked Trump's performance in a room full of Philadelphia Democrats. Biden dropped out of the race after his debate performance raised questions about his health and fitness to serve another term.

But Lamorgese defended Trump as showing "enormous stamina" on the campaign trail.

"I'm half his age. I don't know that I could go the way he does," Lamorgese said. "... Everybody slips up once in a while. I think they're calling attention to it because of his age."

DiBello said that he would be skeptical if Trump had been speaking for only five minutes before the interruption, or if people had started booing, but neither was the case.

"He was moving to the music," DiBello said. "Last I checked, that was dancing. ... I don't think it was America's Got Talent. I don't think anyone was expecting to judge him on his dancing skills."

And Lamorgese doesn't think it was a lost opportunity because he believes Trump's supporters and detractors already know where he stands.

"I don't think he's going to lose anybody based on whether he takes more questions on Monday night in Oaks, Pennsylvania," he said.

Guy Ciarocchi, a GOP political strategist from Chester County, said the reaction to the saga demonstrated the divide in America.

Democrats were quick to brand the spectacle as bizarre, while those more open to Trump may see the incident as the former president reading the room after a medical emergency, he said.

"In an election where there's still people kicking the tires, some people may have been undecided and said, 'Oh, that made him more human,' while others looked at him and said, 'No,'" he said.

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(Staff writer Katie Bernard contributed to this article.)