Trump talks about taking in a million jobs during his Mississippi rally, then a heckler interrupts him: ‘Shove that ballroom’

President Donald Trump was addressing supporters at a Monday rally in Corinth, Mississippi, when a protester cut into his remarks with a direct jab at the White House ballroom project. Trump had just highlighted recent employment figures while referencing Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi. The president’s voice was described as sounding notably hoarse throughout the appearance.

According to Mediaite, he told the crowd, “At the last, in the last short period of time, we took in over a million jobs. Over a million jobs! I say, ‘I can’t help Cindy Hyde-Smith any better than that.’ I don’t have to stay up here any longer, and what I’ve been doing in the past is walking off the stage to the consternation…” The interruption started while he was still finishing that thought.

As Trump tried to continue, the heckler shouted, “Shove that ballroom up your a–!” Trump had managed only a few more words – “To the consternation of the people that protect us” – before the outburst. The crowd answered with boos.

Trump responds after the interruption and addresses the ballroom project

Trump reacted immediately, telling the person, “Oh, go home!” He repeated the phrase twice more: “Go home. Go home.” He laughed as he spoke and made a dismissive hand gesture toward the heckler.

He then told the audience, “You know they’re paid protesters? They get paid $250 by, they think it’s [George] Soros, and they ruin their lives because now they get booked. Now they get booked. We don’t usually press it too hard, but isn’t that terrible?” The comments came right after the initial exchange.

Trump later tried to reenact the moment of the interruption. He said, “I was just at the punchline, talking about, ‘And our country must have a beautiful, pristine, it’s a symbol, the White House. The symbol of our, and then…” He appeared to forget the exact subject he had been discussing just before the disruption.

The Mississippi stop was part of a broader stretch of campaign travel. Trump has been appearing at events around the country to support Republican candidates before the midterm elections, and protesters have interrupted several of those gatherings, including ones held in solidly Republican states.

The ballroom addition has drawn ongoing criticism. Trump has already ordered the demolition of the White House East Wing to clear space for the project. The project itself has since been halted by a judge over congressional authority. In August, CNN analyst Harry Enten reported that public dissatisfaction with the renovation work outweighed satisfaction by 33 points.