Donald Trump used a campaign rally Monday night - meant to rally his base for ahead Tuesday's gubernatorial election in Kentucky - to attack his Democratic political rivals and slam the impeachment inquiry into his presidency.
'These people are lunatics,' the president said of Democrats.
'While we are creating jobs and killing terrorists, the radical Democrats are going totally insane. They want to obliterate the rule of law, drive out faith from the public square, and you know, confiscate your guns,' he said in a speech lasting one hour and 20 minutes.
Several supporters were lined up behind him in white t-shirts that said 'Read the transcript' - a reference to Trump's argument that if Democrats read the transcript of his July 25 call with the Ukrainian president, it would show he did nothing wrong.
Supporters wearing 'read the transcript' t-shirts appeared behind President Trump
Democrats are investigating allegations Trump with held nearly $400 million in military aid from the Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into his political enemies.
He has maintained he's done nothing wrong.
The supporters were stationed directly behind Trump, so they would appear on camera as the rally played out on television. The group came down the stairs to take their place shortly before the rally started.
The crowd gave them a standing ovation and several of them waved their hands in the air like boxers as they took their place in the camera-ready position inside the Rupp Arena.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Republican Senator Rand Paul claimed Republicans know the name of the whistle-blower - whose revelation of Trump's July 25th phone call with the Ukrainian president sparked the impeachment inquiry - and challenged the media to print the person’s name.
The senator claimed the whistle-blower worked for Joe Biden when Hunter Biden sat on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
‘We also now know the name of the whistle-blower. The whistle-blower needs to come before Congress as a material witness because he worked for Joe Biden at the same time Hunter Biden was getting money from corrupt Ukrainians. I say tonight to the media, do your job and print his name!,’ he said as the crowd in the Rupp arena cheered.
The whistle-blower is known to be a male CIA officer who was detailed to the White House. There are reports he also advised the White House when Joe Biden was vice president.
Trump and his allies charge Biden, as vice president, quashed a Ukrainian investigation into a Ukrainian gas company Burisma, where Biden's son Hunter served on the board from 2014 until earlier this year.
Biden has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been filed against either Biden.
Paul challenged Congress to subpoena both Hunter Biden and the whistle-blower and, if not, they should leave Capitol Hill.
‘I say this to my fellow colleagues in Congress, to every Republican in Washington, step up and subpoena Hunter Biden and subpoena the whistle-blower,’ he said. ‘And I say to my colleagues, if shifty Schiff will not let Hunter Biden come and if you will not bring the whistle-blower for word, every Republican in Congress should take a walk and say this is a farce.
Trump praised his defender.
‘Wow, that was excellent. Wow, thank you. Thank you very much. Great job. He is a warrior. He is a warrior,’ he said.
And he attacked the Bidens repeatedly in his remarks. He referred to the former vice president by his favorite knickname for him 'Sleepy Joe.'
'Get off the stage Sleepy Joe, Sleepy Joe get off the damned stage,' he said.
But it was Biden's son Hunter that Trump attacked repeatedly, comparing the treatment of him to the treatment of his two eldest sons.
Hunter Biden sat on the board of BHR, a Chinese equity firm, that was trying to raise a $1.5 billion financial stake - a number the president has latched on to to accuse Hunter Biden of personal financial gain.
Hunter Biden told ABC News last month that he didn't make any money from that work.
Trump has continued to attack him however.
'The Bidens caught rich while America was robbed,' Trump said.
And then he brought up his sons Donald Jr. and Eric, who run the Trump Organization.
'Could you imagine if I did what he did? Could you imagine if Don Jr. or Eric Trump walked out of China while I was, let's say, vice president or president. Let's say they walked out of China with $1.5 billion. Do you think the press would say, it is unsubstantiated? No, let me just tell you something, these people, not all of them but these people are very dishonest people, okay? Very, very dishonest people,' he said as the crowd booed.
The president also slammed last week's vote in the House that approved a resolution outlining the impeachment process going forward.
'With last week's vote, the far left has declared war on American democracy itself,' he said of the vote that passed largely on party lines. 'In the face of these attacks, Republicans are the most unified that I have ever seen. And I've been watching them. I've been a big part of them for a long time.'
He added: 'And the Democrats have never witnessed anything like it. And they know they will not win in 2020. So let's see what we can do to win, but that's not working too well. You will see. The American people are fed up with Democrat lies, hoaxes, slander, the Democrats outrageous conduct has created an angry majority that will vote the do-nothing Democrats the hill out of office soon.'
He charged his political rivals with trying to rip the country apart.
'The Democrats are trying to tear our country apart. First, Democrats engineer the Russian hoax,' he charged.
Then he added in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 'Then they did the Mueller scam, you remember that,' he added.
He went on to add: 'I don't know Tulsi Gabbard, but Hillary Clinton said Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian agent. I don't know Jill Stein. ... But Jill Stein was an agent of Russia also. These people are crazy.'
Hillary Clinton, in an interview, claimed Russians were grooming a Democrat to play a third-party spoiler role in the 2020 election and implied it was Gabbard, which Gabbard has denied. Clinton charged Stein played a similar role in the 2016 election.
But it was Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Adam Schiff, who is leading the impeachment inquiry, who got the biggest boos from the crowd.
'Now, corrupt politician Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, they are corrupt,' President Trump said one of several attacks on the Democrats leading the investigation into him.
'Nancy ought to stop wasting time, go back to her district in San Francisco, help the homeless, get rid of the drugs, get rid of the needles that are lying all over the streets, and the things that are washing into the oceans through the storm sewer systems,' he added.
The crowd ate up his words - cheering him on loudly.
‘Even on a Monday night is there anything cooler than being at a Trump rally,' he asked them.
Twice protesters were removed from the crowd as supporters booed them out.
‘Get ‘em out. Be gentle. Every time I say get them out I get sued. So be very gentle. I don’t want to get sued. He’s going home to mom,' Trump said of one as he ordered security to remove them.
Trump is in Kentucky to campaign for Republican Gov. Matt Bevin's re-election - one of three Republicans the president is trying to see put in the governor's mansion, along with candidates in Mississippi and Louisiana.
He entered to his usual song of 'Proud to be An American' - this time sung live by singer Lee Greenwood. The crowd was reeved up, shouting 'USA' and jumping up an down as Trump took the stage.
Before the rally began, Bevin and several Kentucky lawmakers entered the Rupp Arena to a rousing round of applause and cheers. Bevin was joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Rand Paul and other Kentucky Republicans. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway also sat with them. The group posed for selfies and signed signs for spectators.
Trump praised McConnell for all the judges he's confirmed to the bench.
And McConnell got a lot of cheers when Trump mentioned his name.
With McConnell’s help ‘we got 167 judges to follow the constitution as needed,’ Trump said.
'My motto is leave no vacancy behind,' McConnell said to laughs when Trump brought him on stage. The two men shared an awkward hug.
Trump returned McConnell's support by slamming Amy McGrath, the Democrat running against McConnell in next year's Senate election.
The president campaigned against McGrath last year when she challenged Republican Rep. Andy Barr in a close contest where Barr prevailed.
'She said to herself, you know I failed in Congress now let's go for the Senate,' he aid of McGrath.
'She wasn't too happy with me last year. We came in and we did a job on her. And this is going to be easy,' Trump bragged of 2020.
Trump is on a rally the base tour ahead of several critical gubernatorial elections.
'Tomorrow the people of Kentucky will head to the polls and you will vote to re-elect your terrific Republican Governor Matt Bevin. You will send a signal to the rest of the country and the world when you do that,' he told the cheering the crowd.
He joked that Kentucky should support Bevin even if he was a pain in the a**.
'He's such a pain in the a**, but that's what you want!,' Trump told the crowd.
The president was in Mississippi on Friday and will be in Louisiana on Wednesday as part of his 2019 election push.
Republicans in Kentucky hope Trump's presence here can boost Bevin in Tuesday's election, where he faces Democrat Andy Beshear, who is the state's attorney general and the son of a former governor.
Trump won Kentucky by 30 points in 2016.
Vice President Mike Pence campaigned with Bevin on Friday.
Polls show the race is in a dead heat with Bevin in a tougher than expected re-election contest in the heavy red state.
But he's proven unpopular in his policies. Republicans have rallied to his side.
'Tomorrow, Kentucky has a chance to send the radical Democrats a message,' Trump told the crowd. 'You will vote to reject the Democrats extremism, socialism, and corruption. And you will vote to reelect Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, who has done a great job.'
The president talked up Bevin's accomplishments and invited him on stage.
'Matt is a veteran,' Trump said. 'He's a patriot. He's done it all. He's been a very, very successful business leader. He put his whole life at stake to help his state in the job. He has done is incredible under his leadership. Kentucky has created over 57,000 new jobs. But I helped. We work together. Now, it is difficult, have to say, you know, but it's okay, here, look. He is such a pain when he needs something for Kentucky like money, like aid, like he wants me to call one of the many manufacturers now that were coming into Kentucky. Could you call the head of some company in Japan, please? Matt, do I have to do it? Please, please. But isn't that what you want in a governor?,' Trump said.
The president also attacked Bevin's Democratic rival, Andy Beshear.
'Beshear supported crooked Hillary Clinton, and he is funded by the pro-abortion lobby and open border fanatics. Open borders, let everybody pour right in. Let them all pour right in. Beshear wants to bring sanctuary cities to Kentucky. Think of that one,' he said.
Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana and Virginia are hold the first elections since Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
The results will be watched for as a test of Trump's political power heading into his 2020 re-election campaign.
Trump carried all but Virginia - which he lost to Hillary Clinton by 5 points - in 2016.
Bevin is one of the more unpopular governors in the country but he has closely aligned himself to Trump.
In Virginia, Democrats are fighting to win control of the state Senate and House of Delegates, which are narrowly held by Republicans. Former Vice President Joe Biden was in the state over the weekend to rally the party faithful.
Mississippi is looking to replace its outgoing Republican governor. GOP Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves is the favorite to win but he's being challenged by state Attorney General Jim Hood, a popular Democrat.
Republicans are trying to win back Louisiana's gubernatorial mansion from the Deep South's only Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, in a Nov. 16 run-off election.
Trump was in Mississippi on Friday for his first campaign rally since the House voted last week on a resolution outlining the impeachment process going forward.
'Yesterday's vote by the radical Democrats is an attack on democracy itself,' he said of the resolution, which passed largely on party lines.
He and other Republicans have argued Democrats are trying to overturn the results of the 2016 election with their impeachment inquiry.
'The Democrats voted to potentially nullify the votes of 63 million Americans, disgracing themselves and bringing shame upon the House of Representatives,' Trump said. 'Make no mistake they are coming after the Republican Party and me because I'm fighting for you.'
The impeachment inquiry began when a whistleblower flagged Trump's July 25 call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky where he asked the Ukraine to look into allegations that Joe Biden, as vice president, quashed a Ukrainian investigation into Burisma, where Biden's son Hunter served on the board from 2014 until earlier this year, and used the threat of withholding U.S. foreign aid.
Biden has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been filed against either Biden.
Trump also has denied any wrong doing and said his call with Zelensky was 'perfect.'
No comments:
Post a Comment