It’s the 2018 midterm season—and Montana is on the hit list. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester is vulnerable and has earned the ire of the Trump White House for his character assassination of Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson. Jackson was nominated to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, but Tester decided to push a false narrative that Jackson had driven drunk, crashed a government car, and was more or less a pill pusher. The strategy worked; Jackson, who has served as the personal physician to both Trump and Obama, withdrew his nomination. Jackson might not have been right for the role. He might have shown that he was inexperienced, as many have alleged, but we’ll never know because Senate Democrats decided to pull this crap. Even CNN said these allegations were overreach. So, you bet Tester, who quarterbacked the kill Ronny effort, was going to be a target in last night’s rally.
The rally, which lasted well over an hour—typical of Trump events—hit everything: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the economy, Tester, immigration, tax reform, and Russian relations. With SCOTUS now an issue, Senate Republicans said the vacancy left by outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy will be filled by fall, giving base voters another reason to vote and get some who might not have been enthused, or who might have forgotten we have key elections this year, a reason to show up and cast ballots. A vote for a Republican is a vote for Trump—and that’s what the president is driving home, as he’s made it a habit to attack both political parties. His coalition is more around him, not the GOP. He’s working to change that with listing all of these issues that the Democrats could take the helm on if they retake the House and possibly the Senate in 2018 (via CBS News):
President Trump spent the vast majority of the hour-plus speech hitting on familiar themes: trade, taxes, immigration, protests by NFL players, the economy, the press, better relations with Russia and North Korea, his proposed “space force,” and the Supreme Court vacancy.
The president once again promised to appoint a justice to replace the retiring Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy. Mr. Trump said Kennedy had decided to leave the High Court because he knew the president would pick a stellar replacement. Mr. Trump did not mention former EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s resignation, which happened only hours earlier.
Mr. Trump was in Montana to campaign for Republican candidates, including at-large Rep. Greg Gianforte and U.S. Senate candidate Matt Rosendale. Toward the start of the speech, Mr. Trump concentrated his fire on Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who is leading Rosendale in the polls despite the state’s Republican lean. “You deserve a senator who actually votes like he’s from Montana,” told the crowd after criticizing Tester at length. But Clinton and Tester weren’t the only Democrats who drew fire from Mr. Trump on Thursday. He also mocked former Vice President Joe Biden, California Rep. Maxine Waters, and repeatedly referred to Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas.”
Mr. Trump noted that he had been criticized for referring to Warren as Pocahontas, a reference to Warren’s claimed Native American ancestry. But he also said the attacks were working, and said he would buy her a genetics testing kit should he ever face her in a presidential debate. In the process, he also mocked the “Me Too” movement, saying that he would be considerate as he pushed her to take it.
“Pocahontas, I apologize,” Mr. Trump said. “To you, I apologize. To the fake one, I won’t. ” The president also attacked Democrats for their opposition to his immigration policies. And he insisted that Waters, an outspoken critic of the president, had a “low IQ.”
“Democrats want anarchy,” Mr. Trump said. “They really do.”
Trump’s solution: “get you a** out to vote.” And I couldn’t agree more. The whole agenda is at stake. The economy is booming. That will all shut down if Democrats win.
