President Barack Obama defended a Donald Trump supporter Friday when the crowd at North Carolina rally began yelling after the man stood up with a pro-Trump sign.
The disruption at the campaign event for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton began when a man in military attire stood up with the sign supporting the Republican presidential nominee. He was escorted from the venue shortly after.
People began shouting as Obama repeatedly told the crowd to “hold up.”
“Everybody sit down and be quiet for a second,” Obama said.
“You’ve got an older gentleman who’s supporting his candidate,” he added. “He’s not doing nothing. You don’t have to worry about him.”
Obama told the crowd that it appears the man was a veteran, and they should respect his service.
“We live in a country that respects free speech,” he said. “Don’t boo, vote.”
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.