Trump takes apart his teleprompter during North Carolina rally — literally

Earlier this week, Donald Trump said the "shackles" are coming off for the remainder of his campaign, and that's exactly what happened Friday night.

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina, the Republican presidential nominee complained about using a teleprompter to deliver his campaign speeches before abruptly deciding to literally disassemble them on stage.

Trump literally dismantled his teleprompter on stage tonight pic.twitter.com/PzbmR0pG9B

— Tré Goins-Phillips (@tregp) October 15, 2016

"I actually like my speech without teleprompters," Trump told the cheering crowd after noting that they had not been working correctly for several minutes. "[A]nd I notice, every time I look up, they're trying, it's trying, it's straining, it's straining — hey, get this thing out of here, will ya, get this thing."

Trump then recalled the Republican primary, where he competed against "17 professional politicians" who he described as "top people." He said he beat them all without using teleprompters.

"Then all of the sudden they said, 'Well now, you're running in the election. You need teleprompters,' and I like tele—they're fine, but it's sort of cooler without it, right? Don't ya think? I like it better without," he said, criticizing Clinton for using the speech aids and "then she goes home and goes to sleep."

When he finally dismantled the teleprompters, Trump received rousing applause.