Donald Trump Jr. took the stage in West Palm Beach at the Turning Point Action Conference and slammed Asa Hutchinson, the barely polling Republican presidential contender and former Arkansas governor.
Trump Jr. was essentially shooting fish in a barrel, as Hutchinson himself was roundly booed and heard chants of “Trump, Trump, Trump” during his own appearance at the conference.
Trump Jr. then turned from the easy excoriating of Hutchinson for being “murdered by Tucker Carlson” — Hutchinson had a rough conference — to expressing some admiration for the veteran Republican. Trump Jr. said of Hutchinson that at least he “had the balls to be here.”
Trump used the line about Hutchinson’s gumption to propel into a joke contrasting Hutchinson with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who wasn’t there. Trump Jr.’s DeSantis joke fell flat, however, the audience giving back crickets and a low smattering of boos before the former president’s son quickly pivoted.
Jr: At least Hutchinson had the balls to actually be here unlike our absentee governor who’s been on a perpetual book tour pic.twitter.com/4ImtsmjDDo
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 16, 2023
That swift pivot, moving past the joke’s bombing, shows Trump Jr. may have gotten better at reading the room. After he gets no applause saying “at least Hutchinson had the balls to actually be here unlike our absentee governor, who’s been on a perpetual book tour,” Trump Jr. immediately launches his next sentence.
Back in 2019 when Trump Jr.’s rhetoric wasn’t hitting his target, he wasn’t as nimble. See below as he and girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle leave the stage at UCLA to a chorus of shouts and boos.
Trump Jr.’s father also mentioned DeSantis’s absence at the conference, where he said the Trump campaign was “totally dominating” the Governor in Florida. (See video below)
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