Donald Trump said at a campaign rally in Iowa on Sunday that he’d rather die by electrocution than be eaten by a shark.
Among his strange, meandering comments at the rally, Mr Trump claimed that farmers of Ottumwa in Iowa – some of whom were likely present among the 2,500-strong crowd – were coming up to him sobbing to “praise and thank him” for what he’s done for them.
“They were crying, many of them crying. People that had never cried before,” the former US president said.
He targeted president Joe Biden’s administration, which he claimed “weaponized law enforcement to arrest their leading opponent on fake and phony charges”.
Mr Trump also went on a nearly-20-minute rant against Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is in the Republican primary race for a 2024 presidency nomination.
In his speech, the former US president also accused the current US government of trying to “crush” ethanol made in Iowa by farmers.
“Crooked Joe is trying to crush Iowa ethanol,” Mr Trump said, alleging that the US president was seeking to make “everyone” buy electric vehicles.
“Let’s get in our new electric vehicle. Thirty minutes later you’re looking for a recharge,” he said.
“They want to go all-electric... The problem is their batteries are so heavy that the boats can’t carry them. They would sink,” the former president said.
At this point he went on a tangent, about how he would rather die by electrocution than be eaten by sharks if the boat was sinking.
“But if I’m sitting down and that boat’s going down and am on top of the battery and the water starts swelling in, am getting concerned. Then I look 10 yards to my left and I see a shark over there,” he said, pointing to his left.
“So I have a choice of electrocution or shark. You know what I’m going to take? Electrocution. I will take electrocution every single time,” Mr Trump said.
This is not the first time the ex-president went off on a tangent about sharks mid-speech.
In 2020, speaking at a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Mr Trump was distracted by a mosquito that flew in front of his face and wanted to “get that mosquito”.
“I don’t like – they’ll say it’s cruelty to animals. I don’t know – no, it’s true!” he said, before shifting his speech abruptly to sharks.
“They were saying the other night, the shark. They were saying, ‘Sharks, we have to protect them.’....I’m not a big fan of sharks,” Mr Trump said.
“I have people calling me up: ‘Sir, we wanted to – we have a fund to save the shark. It’s called save the shark.’ I say ‘No, thank you. I have other things I can contribute to,’” he added.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels also alleged in her memoir in 2018 that during her affair with Mr Trump in 2006, he talked about how much he hated sharks and would not mind if they all died.
