Donald Trump stopped his speech at a White House event to take an impromptu poll regarding the 2028 presidential election, asking attendees to weigh in on two possible candidates.
During his speech at Monday’s Rose Garden Club Dinner, Trump stopped his address to survey the room to see if they supported Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a possible run for president.
“Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be JD?” the president noted after bemoaning about California Governor Gavin Newsom and his potential bid for president. “Is it going to be somebody else? I don’t know … Okay, let’s go. You ready? Who likes JD Vance?”
After the crowd burst out into applause at the mention of the vice president, Trump asked a follow up question: “Who likes Marco Rubio?”
This question also prompted a round of applause, inspiring Trump to suggest the two politicians could make decent running mates.
“All right, sounds like a good ticket … That was a perfect ticket,” Trump went on. “By the way, I do believe that’s a dream team, but these are minor details. That does not mean you have my endorsement under any circumstance.”
Additionally, Trump doubled down on his criticism of Governor Newsom, once again bringing up the California democrat’s learning disability. Specifically, Trump claimed Newsom called himself “a stupid person” for opening up about his life long struggle with dyslexia, adding, “He got bad test marks. He got bad this. He got bad that. He can’t read a speech.”
“He’s not a smart person,” Trump said. “He said, ‘I’m dumb just like all the people in this room.’ And now he was accused of being a racist … This guy, what he said is so bad. It was the worst interview I’ve ever seen by a professional politician.”
Watch the full speech below.
The president’s comments, which echoed a sentiment he shared back in March, appeared to reference backlash Newsom faced for telling a predominantly Black crowd at an Atlanta book event that he wasn’t “trying to impress [them]” before sharing his poor test scores.
“I’m no better than you,” the governor told Mayor Andre Dickens at the time. He later brought up his low SAT score, noting “Literally a 960 SAT guy, you’ve never seen me read a speech. Because I cannot read a speech. Maybe the wrong business to be in.”
Newsom called Trump “a brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects pedophiles” in response to the criticism in March.
