This is the moment a CNN reporter took on the unenviable task of describing Donald Trump’s comments about Arnold Palmer’s manhood.
Footage shows political correspondent Steve Contorno attempting to summarize comments made moments earlier at the former president’s rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
There, Trump went on a tangent for 12 minutes about the late golf great, who died at age 87 in 2016.
The late golfer, often considered the greatest of all time, was born in the Pittsburgh suburb and Trump, in turn, told the crowd that he was well-endowed. As proof, the Republican, an avid golfer, pointed to news reports of other golfers who shared showers with the local legend.
Reporting from the scene of the MAGA rally, Contorno set about explaining what he had just heard. He said the speech started out “quite interesting,” while holding back apparent laughter.
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CNN reporter Steve Contorno set himself the unenviable task of describing Donald Trump’s comments about Arnold Palmer’s penis on Saturday, speaking from the politician’s rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
The images show a political correspondent trying to summarize the statements made moments earlier by the former president.
“(Trump) started with a long story about Arnold Palmer, a native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania,” begins the political reporter, visibly and audibly bewildered by the anecdote he just told.
“(This included) – and I’m not making this up – a description of the Hall of Fame golfer in the men’s room, in the locker room and what he looked like in the shower.”
Contorno quickly moves on to two other comments offered by Trump, apparently eager to move on to another topic.
“Then he started chatting more about how his hair looked in his hair regiments,” the journalist said.
“And then he also accused Joe Biden, a Catholic, of attacking American Catholics.”
Contorno then segues into a series of clips from Trump’s speech to do the rest of the conversation, choosing not to revisit the topic of Palmer’s penis.
Meanwhile, the comments about the late top winner’s manhood were somewhat understated and caused the assembled crowd of fans to let out a series of laughs as they listened.
Trump, 78, was the first to tell them: “Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that with all due respect to women, and I love women, but this is a man who was all man.”
He continued: “When he showered with the other professionals who came out of there, they were like, ‘Oh my God. “That’s incredible.”
Palmer, a golf legend from the suburb where Trump held his rally, died at age 87 in 2017. He is seen here wearing one of his Masters jackets in the first round of the previous year’s major tournament.
Former President Donald Trump made a crude reference to Arnold Palmer’s manhood
When the lewd morsel sparked a reaction, the former commander-in-chief concluded: “I had to say it, I had to say it.”
Trump, meanwhile, did not reveal his sources, in a meeting that also saw former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown speak to the crowd.
Since retiring, Brown has sharply criticized “crazy” media coverage of the upcoming election, which at the time of writing is still 15 days away.
The recipient went on to mock Kamala Harris’ vice presidential pick, Tim Walz, whom Harris and co. has been announced as coach of the campaign due to his track record as a high school football and basketball coach in Minnesota.
To that, Brown, 36, said, “He’s not a real football coach.” He couldn’t protect me.
He went on to compare his own rise from a sixth-round draft pick to one of the league’s best to Trump’s unlikely emergence as he looks to secure a second stint in the Oval Office next month.
Meanwhile, Palmer died just weeks before Trump was elected in 2016, shortly after posing for a photo with the political outsider during a round of golf.
However, the late golf icon would later say he was “horrified” by the future president during his inaugural campaign, according to his family, who told him sports news in 2018 that the “I couldn’t believe the crudeness” of the then nominee.
Meanwhile, Palmer died just weeks before Trump was elected in 2016, shortly after posing for a photo with the political outsider during a round of golf.
Palmer, a well-known conservative, regularly played with former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) during his heyday.
On Sunday, after Trump’s comments went viral, a daughter of the conservative golfer came forward to say she was not upset by the comments.
‘There’s not much to say. I’m not really upset,” Peg Palmer Wears, 68, told The Associated Press.
She, however, added: “I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remember my father, but what are you going to do?”
Asked three times Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” what he thought of Trump’s tangent, House Speaker and Trump ally Mike Johnson did not respond.
“I’ll address it, let me respond,” Johnson told host Jake Tapper, before not giving an answer. ‘Don’t say it again. We don’t have to say it. I understand.’
He then claimed that it was normal for Trump to share such outlandish stories during the election campaign, telling Tapper: “When President Trump is at a rally, he sometimes talks for two hours straight.”
—Are you questioning his stamina, his mental acuity? “Joe Biden couldn’t do that for five minutes.”
Trump is seen here with Palmer, All My Children star Susan Lucci, and Melania at an event in Manhattan in 2011. Five years later, Trump would reportedly fall out of favor with the golfer.
‘This is how you started this segment. You said, ‘What if Biden was at a rally like that?'” Johnson further charged.
‘He couldn’t fill the room. “Donald Trump does it because they see him as an agent of change.”
Meanwhile, Trump is campaigning in Michigan, where Harris also holds rallies. There are 15 days left until the elections.