As the US election campaign heats up following both parties’ conventions, the spotlight on the candidates and their personalities is sure to intensify.

For a polarizing candidate like Republican nominee Donald Trump, this is sure to mean even more incidents with even more media scrutiny about his temperament and personality.

At a campaign rally yesterday (Tuesday) in Ashburn, Virginia, a baby started crying in the audience.

At first Mr. Trump seemed to dismiss the noise as unimportant. “Don’t worry about that baby, I love babies. When I hear that baby crying, I like it,” Trump said to applause.

He then continued to assure the mother not to worry about it, “it’s fine.”

But when the baby continued crying as Trump continued his speech, things changed.

“Actually I was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here.”

Turning to the rest of the crowd as the mother was leaving with the baby, Trump said jokingly: “I think she really believed me when I said I liked having a crying baby while I’m speaking. That’s OK. People don’t understand, but that’s OK.”

This seems to be precisely the kind of incident that will be interpreted by many in the media and the general public as showing that Trump doesn’t have the temperament to be President, as President Obama has said, while supporters will praise the off-the-cuff, “real” nature of Trump’s behavior.