WASHINGTON—Seeking to distance himself from supporters he claimed did not represent his message, President Donald Trump held a press conference Thursday to disavow rally attendees who could barely keep a racist chant of “send her back” going for ten seconds. “I was not happy with how quickly their chant petered out,” said the President, stressing that those wishy-washy supporters who could only parrot back his xenophobic attacks for a few seconds before dying down should not be viewed as a reflection of his base as a whole. “You can see for yourself in the video that I quickly paused to give them room for the chant to grow louder and louder, and I was very disappointed that it never built to a fever pitch. If I had known they’d leave me hanging out to dry like this, I would have called off the event immediately.” A notably contrite Trump added that, in the future, he would take action to ensure that all future rally appearances led to a crazed, rage-filled mob.

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