Donald Trump made a crude joke about Arnold Palmer at a Pennsylvania rally on October 19, 2024, in Latrobe, Palmer’s birthplace. Trump spent about 12 minutes praising the golf legend before describing a sexualized shower anecdote involving Palmer and other pros. Palmer’s daughter later called the approach poor but said she was not really upset.
The remarks came at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, where Trump opened a campaign event 17 days before the November 5 presidential election. The opening drew attention because a locally meaningful tribute shifted from sports biography into vulgar humor before Trump returned to standard campaign themes.
Key takeaways
- Donald Trump made the crude Arnold Palmer joke at a campaign rally on October 19, 2024, at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
- According to the Associated Press (2024), Trump spent “12 full minutes” discussing Palmer before returning to campaign themes.
- Trump praised Palmer’s masculinity and then told a sexualized shower anecdote about Palmer and other professional golfers.
- Latrobe was Palmer’s birthplace, and the airport where Trump spoke bears Palmer’s name.
- Peg Palmer Wears, one of Palmer’s daughters, called Trump’s approach “a poor choice” while also saying she was “not really upset.”
- The rally took place 17 days before the November 5, 2024, presidential election, when Pennsylvania was a pivotal battleground.
What did Trump say about Arnold Palmer?
Donald Trump opened his October 19, 2024, Pennsylvania rally by praising Arnold Palmer, then shifted into a crude and sexualized anecdote about Palmer’s appearance in the showers with other professional golfers. Trump said, “Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women,” before describing how other golfers allegedly reacted when Palmer showered with them.
The Associated Press quoted Trump saying: “When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable.’” The AP’s report on Trump’s rally remarks described the passage as an unusually graphic opening to a political speech. CBS News independently reproduced the core shower passage and characterized the comments as vulgar in its coverage of the Pennsylvania rally.
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The shower anecdote was Trump’s account, not an independently verified fact about Palmer. The wording should therefore be attributed to Trump rather than presented as a confirmed description of Palmer’s private life.
Where did Trump make the Arnold Palmer shower remark?
Trump made the remark at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township, near Latrobe, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally on Saturday, October 19, 2024. The American Presidency Project’s archived transcript identifies the venue and documents the broader speech, although the visible transcript does not include the most graphic shower passage reproduced by the AP and CBS.
The rally began at approximately 6:10 p.m., according to CBS Pittsburgh, and Trump spoke for about 90 minutes. The event included appearances by Dave McCormick, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Mike Wallace. CBS Pittsburgh’s event report also placed the rally in the context of the 2024 Pennsylvania contest.
Why was Arnold Palmer central to the Latrobe rally?
Arnold Palmer was a locally meaningful subject because Latrobe was his birthplace and the rally took place at an airport named for him. The Associated Press reported that Palmer was born in Latrobe in 1929 and learned golf from his father, who had suffered from polio and worked as a head professional and greenskeeper at a local country club.
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Trump initially presented the subject as a tribute. The official transcript records Trump saying, “This was the home of my friend, Arnold Palmer, and he loved Latrobe.” Trump also discussed Palmer’s modest beginnings and his father’s work at the Latrobe golf course before turning to the crude anecdote.
According to the Associated Press (2024), Palmer died in 2016 at age 87. Palmer’s biography explains why Trump’s decision to invoke him made sense for a Latrobe audience; the sexualized treatment of that legacy is what made the opening unusual and generated national coverage.
For readers who want Palmer’s story beyond the rally
Readers interested in Palmer’s life and career rather than the political controversy can consult his memoir, A Life Well Played: My Stories. The book is a first-person account of Palmer’s life and career and should not be presented as a response to Trump’s remarks or as commentary on the 2024 rally.
How long did Trump talk about Arnold Palmer?
Trump spent approximately 12 minutes discussing Palmer at the beginning of the speech. The Associated Press described the segment as “12 full minutes” before Trump moved back to the campaign’s political themes.
The Palmer discussion was not the entire address. Trump later spoke about immigration, taxes, manufacturing, inflation, energy, coal, steel, and jobs, and he urged voters to defeat Kamala Harris. The archived transcript shows the speech eventually returning to a conventional campaign appeal and a call to vote.
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| Part of the rally | What happened | How it was documented |
|---|---|---|
| Opening | Trump praised Palmer’s golf career, Latrobe roots, and family background. | American Presidency Project transcript and AP event report |
| Controversial passage | Trump described Palmer as “all man” and told a sexualized shower anecdote. | AP and CBS News reports |
| Remainder of speech | Trump returned to immigration, taxes, manufacturing, inflation, energy, coal, steel, jobs, and the presidential contest. | American Presidency Project transcript and CBS Pittsburgh report |
Was the comment a tribute or a political provocation?
The passage can be understood through several competing frames, but the available reporting does not establish Trump’s private intention or prove that the remarks changed voter behavior. The strongest evidence shows a respectful sports tribute moving into crude humor during a campaign event designed to compete for Pennsylvania votes.
| Interpretive frame | Evidence in the event | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Tribute versus provocation | Trump began by celebrating a famous hometown golfer, then used a graphic anecdote likely to draw attention from the crowd and news media. | No independent evidence proves whether the passage was planned as humor, provocation, or an off-script digression. |
| Local symbolism versus national politics | Palmer’s birthplace and the airport’s name made Palmer relevant to Latrobe, while the rally’s practical purpose was the 2024 presidential campaign. | Local relevance does not show that the audience shared one reaction. |
| Respectful praise versus crude tone | Trump praised Palmer’s ability and masculinity before describing the shower episode in sexualized terms. | The shower account should remain attributed to Trump rather than treated as verified biographical evidence. |
| Short digression versus complete speech | The Palmer segment lasted about 12 minutes, followed by a much longer campaign address. | Media attention to the opening does not mean the remarks represented every subject Trump discussed. |
What did Arnold Palmer’s daughter say about Trump’s comments?
Peg Palmer Wears, one of Arnold Palmer’s daughters, gave a measured response rather than a family-wide condemnation or endorsement. In an interview reported by the Associated Press, Wears said, “I think it was a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father, but what are you going to do?” She also said, “I’m not really upset.”
The AP report on Wears’s response supports a nuanced description: she criticized the way Trump remembered her father but did not describe herself as strongly angry. Her remarks should not be expanded into a claim that Palmer’s entire family shared one view.
CBS also reported an earlier 2018 comment attributed to Wears in which she said Palmer would have cringed at Trump. That earlier statement came from a prior interview reported through CBS’s account and should be kept separate from Wears’s post-rally response in October 2024.
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What was the political context of the rally?
The rally occurred 17 days before the November 5, 2024, presidential election. CBS Pittsburgh described Pennsylvania as crucial to the electoral map and reported that Trump later focused on issues including immigration, taxes, manufacturing, inflation, energy, coal, steel, and jobs.
According to CBS Pittsburgh (2024), Pennsylvania had 19 electoral votes in the 2024 election context. That figure describes the electoral map for that election, not a permanent number: electoral-vote allocations can change after reapportionment. The timing and location explain why the rally received political attention, but no credible poll or study in the available reporting measures whether the Arnold Palmer remarks changed voter attitudes or turnout.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is confirmed and what remains unverified?
- Confirmed: Trump discussed Palmer at the October 19 rally in Latrobe and made the quoted “all man” and shower remarks, as reported by AP and CBS.
- Confirmed: Trump spent approximately 12 minutes on Palmer before returning to campaign issues.
- Confirmed: Latrobe was Palmer’s birthplace, and the event took place at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
- Attributed, not independently verified: The shower anecdote was Trump’s account of what other golfers allegedly said.
- Not established: The available evidence does not show that the comments affected election results, turnout, or voter preferences.
- Transcript limitation: The archived American Presidency Project transcript documents the rally and its broader structure but does not visibly reproduce the most graphic shower passage carried by AP and CBS.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where did Trump make the Arnold Palmer shower remark?
Donald Trump made the Arnold Palmer shower remark at his October 19, 2024, campaign rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The airport is named for Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.
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Peg Palmer Wears called Trump’s remarks “a poor choice of approaches to remembering my father” and also said, “I’m not really upset.” Her response criticized the method without representing it as a unanimous family position.
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Was the Arnold Palmer comment the entire rally speech?
The Arnold Palmer remarks were only the opening portion of Trump’s speech. The Associated Press reported that Trump spent about 12 minutes discussing Palmer, after which Trump returned to campaign issues including immigration, taxes, manufacturing, inflation, energy, coal, steel, and jobs.
Did the Arnold Palmer shower story actually happen?
The shower anecdote was Trump’s account and was not independently verified as a fact about Arnold Palmer. Reporting confirms that Trump made the remarks, but it does not establish that the alleged shower exchange occurred as described.
The Bottom Line
Donald Trump’s crude Arnold Palmer joke was made during the opening of his October 19, 2024, rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Trump spent about 12 minutes praising the hometown golfer before telling a sexualized shower anecdote. Palmer’s daughter Peg Palmer Wears called the approach poor but said she was not really upset. The remarks were a brief, controversial part of a longer campaign speech, and no credible evidence establishes an electoral effect.
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