President Donald Trump reportedly made sound effects in place of names and mixed up prestigious awards during a rally in South Carolina on Wednesday. As detailed by The New Republic, the 80-year-old president has started inserting sound effects into his speeches after holding 20 campaign rallies in just two months.
At one point, Trump appeared to stop mid-sentence and made a gagging sound instead of saying the name of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley. “I’d say 90 percent of the reason I took the governor… EUHH,” Trump said. “I took the governor, I put her over at the United Nations, because I wanted this guy to be, I wanted the guy to become governor.”
This is not the first time Trump has reportedly misstated Haley’s name. He has also appeared to forget the names of candidates he was there to support.
The sound effects didn’t stop with Haley
Later in the speech, Trump described military strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats using one of his favorite sound effects. “We brought the flow of deadly drugs coming in by ocean and sea down by 97… pew, pew, pew. Ninety-seven,” he said. Trump has repeated this number for months, though the Pentagon’s own statements reportedly do not support the claim.
Trump also appeared to reference the flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz without directly saying it. “Oh, and when Iran ends. POW,” Trump said, miming a downward flow before clarifying, “The oil.”
During the speech, Trump spoke about wanting to rename the Atlantic Ocean “Trump Ocean” and insisted he should have won the Pulitzer Prize for writing after appearing to confuse it with the Nobel Peace Prize. He also reportedly leered at Senator Tim Scott. The rally is part of his midterm campaign push, during which he has promised a $5,000 Trump dividend if Republicans keep control of Congress.
Trump also appeared to celebrate violence at the rally, which was held at Clemson University. At least nine protesters interrupted his speech, according to a pool report, and in one instance a heckler was allegedly punched by a Trump supporter in the crowd.
“Wow. Man, I love that. I watched that,” Trump said. “That was incredible. Wow. That was, that was unbelievable. Is everybody OK? Who’s the guy that threw that punch?”
Trump then compared the supporter to Evander Holyfield, the champion boxer who was in attendance. “You gotta give them credit. It takes courage to do that at a Trump rally. He got whacked,” he said.
In another incident, a supporter reportedly followed a protester being escorted out by security and hit him on the head.
Published: Oct 23, 2026 08:30 am