Donald Trump had an unusual response to his Republican presidential rivals hitting out at him during the second GOP debate.
Late on Wednesday night, the former president took to his Truth Social platform to post a string of bizarre, chaotic videos featuring montages of movie clips including Kill Bill: Vol. 2 and clips of him meeting controversial figures including Kanye West and Kim Jong-Un.
One video, lasting 1 minute 38 seconds, begins with spliced clips from several iconic movies including Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Napoleon Dynamite of moments where people gathered around the TV screens.
But instead of watching the likes of a spaceship taking off, the viewers are of course watching Mr Trump.
Among the movie footage, Mr Trump has thrown himself into the mix.
One clip shows the moment Mr Trump infamously shoved the prime minister of Montenegro Dusko Markovic out of the way so that he could get to the front of the world stage at the 2017 Nato summit.
At another moment, he is seen meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un while in another he is meeting with Kanye in the Oval Office.
“I love this guy right here,” Mr Trump is heard saying of the man who has come under fire for a string of antisemitic remarks.
Another moment shows a child asking Mr Trump if he is Batman – to which he replies yes.
In a bizarre moment towards the end of the video, Mr Trump takes a long sip from a glass of water while on stage – as a voiceover describes him as “a phenomenon”.
One of the other videos posted on Truth Social takes on a chaotic, fever-dream vibe – with dramatic music and jaunty clips including a red pill being dropped out of a fighter jet, Mr Trump dancing and people screaming.
Trump posts string of chaotic videos featuring movie clips montage— (Truth Social)
Other videos take aim at Mr Trump’s political rivals, featuring edited clips of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis looking downcast about his poll numbers – as well as clips of him cackling.
The song “Whoop a Man’s A**” by Trace Adkin plays over the top.
Another video called “Morning/Mourning in America”, hits out at President Joe Biden featuring clips of him tripping up the stairs to Air Force One and falling off his bike.
While the former president was more than happy to attack his political rivals in the series of videos, he chose to once again avoid going head-to-head with them on the debate stage.
Instead of taking part in the GOP debate in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday night, Mr Trump chose to travel to Michigan for a campaign event speaking to auto workers.
The former president notably chose non-union auto plant Drake Enterprises for the event – at a time when United Auto Workers (UAW) union members are striking over pay, with President Joe Biden joining striking workers on the picket line one day earlier.
During the first Republican debate, candidates largely avoided calling out the former president for his absence but this time around several finally turned on him.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie hit out at Mr Trump for being a no-show and claimed that the real reason for his absence was because he is afraid of defending his record from his time in office.
Former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump gestures while speaking at Drake Enterprises, an automotive parts manufacturer and supplier, in Clinton, Michigan— (AFP via Getty Images)
In a bizarre moment – that clearly failed to draw in the cheers that he hoped – Mr Christie then trialled a new nickname for the former president: “Donald Duck.”
“I want to look in that camera now and tell you, Donald, I know you’re watching, you can’t help yourself,” Mr Christie said.
“You’re not here tonight, not because of polls and not because of your indictments. You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on this stage and defending your record. You’re ducking these things.”
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” he continued. “You keep doing that, and no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re gonna call you Donald Duck.”
Mr DeSantis – who has largely avoided retaliating against the former president despite his relentless attacks – also finally called out Mr Trump for avoiding his rival candidates.
“Where’s Joe Biden?” Mr DeSantis said during the debate.
“He’s completely missing in action from leadership. You know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight.”
He continued: “He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt. That set the stage for the inflation we have now.”
