After Mistaking Him For Protester, Trump Phones Supporter He Mocked As Overweight During NH Rally
(CBS/CNN) -- President Donald Trump phoned a supporter he mocked as overweight during Thursday's New Hampshire rally and left a message, according to a senior administration official as well as the supporter.
Trump mocked the man while delivering remarks from the podium during his rally in a Manchester arena, apparently confusing him for a protester.
"That guy's got a serious weight problem," Trump said as the man escorted out several protesters. "Go home. Start exercising."
"Get him out of here please. Got a bigger problem than I do," the President joked. "Got a bigger problem than all of us. Now he goes home and his mom says, 'What the hell have you just done?'"
After the rally, the senior administration official said, Trump got the man's name and contact information from a campaign aide and called him from Air Force One. He left the man a voicemail, the official said.
The supporter's name is Frank Dawson, a retired U.S. Marshal. He confronted protesters who were displaying anti-Trump signs and shouting.
He confirmed to WBZ-TV that Trump did leave him a voicemail, thanking him for dealing with the protesters. Dawson said he's been a huge Trump supporter since 2015, and plans to keep on backing the president. He added that he goes to the gym consistently and has no shame about his appearance.
This isn't the first time Trump has heckled protesters at his rallies.
At one rally in 2016, he mocked a protester for wearing a turban and at another, he said one protester was so young he was "still wearing diapers." He also said he'd like to punch a protester in the face, adding that "in the old days" protesters would be "carried out on stretchers."
"We're not allowed to push back anymore," he added.
More recently, at a 2018 rally, he questioned whether a protester he spotted was a man or a woman.
"Was that a man or a woman? Because he needs a haircut more than I do," Trump said. "I couldn't tell. Needs a haircut."
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. CNN's Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.)
