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Donald Trump asks ‘how’s Joe Paterno?’ at Pittsburgh stop

Yep.

Donald Trump, who may or may not get the vote of UCLA’s star quarterback, is, at the moment at least, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Joe Paterno, the legendary former Penn State who stepped down in disgrace in 2011, lost his brief battle with cancer in 2012.

At a Pittsburgh -- Pittsburgh, mind you -- campaign stop earlier today, those two worlds collided in the most seemingly awkward manner possible.

In Pittsburgh, Donald Trump goes there: “How’s Joe Paterno? We gonna bring that back. How bout that whole deal?”

— Beth Reinhard (@bethreinhard) April 13, 2016


Trump’s interesting comment on Paterno: “I know a lot about Pennsylvania, & it’s great. How’s Joe Paterno? Are we going to bring that back?”

— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) April 13, 2016


Alas, the first by way of one of Paterno’s sons, we may have a more rational explanation for Trump’s supposed gaffe in the backyard of Penn State’s in-state rival.

I would suspect he means the statue. https://t.co/sqmSHsKhkT

— Scott Paterno (@ScottPaterno) April 14, 2016


Possible it’s the statue. We’ve asked the campaign to clarify. https://t.co/noszBTQC8D

— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) April 14, 2016


So maybe that’s just that. Much ado about nothing, a slight miscommunication on the part of the candidate.In closing, though, we’ll toss out this tweet blast from the past from The Donald.

The Football program at Penn State should be suspended.


— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2012

UPDATED 9:44 p.m. ET: The latest from the “Night of the Living Donald.” Or “The Donald of the Dead.” Or whatever.

Trump spokeswoman says “He was talking about the Penn State bronze statue that they melted down.” https://t.co/JaItK1pP83


— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) April 14, 2016