Asks Pittsburgh crowd "How's Joe Paterno?" four years after coach's death

At a rally in Pittsburgh, Trump asked the crowd "How's Joe Paterno?" and "Are we gonna bring that back?" referring to the legendary Penn State football coach who had died in 2012 amid the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The gaffe, which Trump's campaign later claimed referred to the coach's statue, highlighted his tendency to parachute into local issues with superficial, populist appeals, often oblivious to the actual context or facts on the ground.

"How's Joe Paterno? Are we gonna bring that back?" — Pittsburgh rally remarks regarding the late Penn State coach