Patton: Trump, Hillary Heckled At Political Rallies

Heckling presidential candidates is an old political tradition. “Over the years, presidential heckling has made for some pretty memorable moments captured on video. Richard Nixon dealt with it. Ronald Reagan did, too. Bill Clinton shut down his detractors by calling them ‘paranoid.’ George W. Bush had to dodge a thrown pair of shoes.” (TPM, 5/24/2013)

Donald Trump is heckled at virtually every one of his appearances because the carnival-like atmosphere he creates encourages raucous behavior by the crowd. Of course, Trump’s stock in trade is counterpunching. So, when Trump is punched by hecklers he counterpunches.

Trump was repeatedly heckled when he spoke recently at a night rally in chilly Burlington, Vermont. His security team members made strenuous efforts to screen out those trying to attend who were not bona fide Trump supporters, but some hecklers sneaked past them.

Said Trump in response to a heckler, “I thought I heard a little voice over there. All right, get him out. Take him out. Get him out of here . . . Don’t give him his coat! Keep his coat. Confiscate his coat. You know it’s about 10 degrees below zero outside . . . Keep his coat. Tell him we’ll send it to him in a couple weeks,” he joked. (Business Insider, 1/7/2016).

The heckling continued, and Trump kept counterpunching. “I don’t even hear them. Their voices are so weak. I don’t even hear them,” Trump said. “OK, you can get them out. Yeah, get them out. Thank you, darling.” (Business Insider, 1/7/2016).

Eventually, Trump’s nerves began to fray. “Get him out, “ a frustrated Trump said at one point. “Come on security, go faster.” (Business Insider, 1/7/2016).

Some weeks earlier, Trump personally insulted a heckler. “Professional entertainer and Republican presidential candidate called a heckler ‘seriously overweight’ on Wednesday after the man interrupted his speech in Worcester, Massachusetts . . . ‘I mention food stamps and that guy who’s seriously overweight went crazy.’ Trump said, to applause. ’Amazing.’” (Arthur Delaney, The Huffington Post, 11/19/2015).

Of course, the benefits of hecklers are not lost on a master showman like Trump. Television stations cannot resist Trump because his performances attract large viewing audiences. In fact, he has spent very little money on television commercials because his free television appearances do the selling for him. Should Trump get the Republican nomination, he will have free television coverage largely to thank.

Hillary Clinton encountered hecklers, too, but she handled one of them entirely differently. Katherine Prudhomme O’Brien, a Republican state representative, stood up and began waving her arms and shouting at a Clinton rally in Derry , NH.

“O’Brien has a history of heckling presidential candidates. She boasted to reporters after the event about trying to ask Clinton about the issue (Bill Clinton’s infidelity) late last year and the New Republic dubbed her ‘New Hampshire’s Most Annoying Voter’ in 2007 after she heckled former New York (Republican) Mayor Rudy Giuliani.” (Dan Merica, CNN, 1/4/2016).

Clinton has a different style from Trump. After a third interruption by the woman, she decked O’Brien with a short, curt reply. “You are very rude and I’m not ever going to call on you,” Clinton said forcefully, looking directly at the woman. “Thank you.” (Washington Post, 1/3/2016).

Heckling is just one of those things a presidential candidate must endure. As Donald Trump has shown, it can even be turned to an advantage. Considering candidates’ highly scripted and edited advertisements; debate appearances peppered zingers and applause lines that have been carefully prepared and memorized beforehand, and canned stump speeches, responses to hecklers may be one of the few places the voter can get a look at spontaneous behavior (for better or for worse) by those seeking the presidency.

Gary Patton is the author of two books, “Selling Mt. Washington,” a political satire about New Hampshire politics, and “Outtastatahs: Newcomers’ Adventures in New Hampshire, “ a humorous account of the struggles of newcomers to this state. Both books are now available in Portsmouth at the River Run Bookstore , Discover Portsmouth, and Tugboat Alley. In Exeter, these books can be obtained at The Water Street Bookstore and the Country Store at RiverWoods. In Hampton, look for them at the Galley Hatch gift shop. In North Hampton, both are available at “The Book Outlet.” In Concord, these books can be found at Gibson’s Bookstore. They are also available on-line at Amazon.com.