MANCHESTER, N.H. -- As Donald Trump brought up his chief rival, Ted Cruz, during a rally in a sports arena the night before the New Hampshire primary, a woman in the crowd shouted out an insult of the senator from Texas.
The woman shouted louder, but still couldn't be heard throughout the cavernous arena.
"Okay, you're not allowed to say and I never expect to hear that from you again," Trump said with mock seriousness, like a father reprimanding a child. "She said -- I never expect to hear that from you again! -- she said: 'He's a pussy.' That's terrible."
The crowd of several thousand burst into cheers, applause and laughter, while reporters asked one another if they had heard that right.
"What kind of people do I have here?" Trump asked. "What do I have?"
Trump then reflected on other times that members of his audience have shouted out controversial things, and he has come under fire for not denouncing their statements, like when a man at a town hall in New Hampshire several months ago shouted out that President Obama is a Muslim.
This time, Trump made a show of distancing himself from the insult he had just repeated: "You're reprimanded, okay?"
He then polled the audience: "Can she stay? Can she stay?"
The answer: A roaring yes.