President Trump continues to pull no punches as he takes jabs at former Vice President Joe Biden.
Trump hurled some expletive ridden insults at the former VP and his son over their Ukrainian business dealings in Minneapolis at a recent rally — at one point bringing the crowd to its feet by charging that Biden’s only useful trait as vice president was his unique ability to “kiss Barack Obama’s ass.”
Trump cited a new report in The Washington Examiner that the whistleblower at the center of Democrats’ impeachment push had worked with Biden. The whistleblower’s attorney, Mark Zaid, acknowledged earlier in the week that his client had “contact” with current presidential contenders “from both parties.”
The president also chided the Biden campaign for aggressively seeking to convince Facebook and The New York Times, as well as all major television networks, not to cover what it called “conspiracy theories” about potential Biden corruption.
Scores of Trump supporters, as well as pro-impeachment demonstrators, lined up hours before the event started at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis last Thursday. At least one protester was photographed pouring milk on his face to counter the effects of pepper spray, as chaos unfolded outside the arena — with pro-Trump hats being lit on fire, as some demonstrators harassed police and assaulted Trump supporters.
“The Bidens got rich — and that is substantiated — while America got robbed,” Trump said. “Sleepy Joe and his friends sold out America. … And in a brand new report, just came out as I’m walking on the stage, it turns out that when Joe Biden was vice president — he worked with the so-called whistleblower. This is nothing more than a partisan witch hunt, sabotage, and I’m sure they’re going to say, ‘totally unsubstantiated.'”
As the crowd erupted into applause, Trump remarked, “Isn’t it much better when I go off script? So much better.”
The rally was Trump’s first since the House moved toward impeachment over his handling of a July phone call with Ukraine’s president. It took place in a state that Trump nearly won in 2016 and has talked frequently of being able to turn red in 2020. But the contentious rally took place in a traditionally liberal city and the home turf of a frequent Trump foil, Rep. Ilhan Omar.
To loud booing during the rally, Trump slammed Omar as “an America-hating socialist” who “minimized the September 11 terror attack on our homeland.” He also outlined comments from Omar that even top Democrats have admitted were anti-Semitic, before asking, “How do you have such a person representing you in Minnesota? I’m very angry at you people. She is a disgrace to our country, and she is one of the big reasons that I am going to win, and that the Republican Party is going to win, Minnesota in 13 months.”
Trump Rallies the Base as Only He Can
Trump hit Democrats for bringing in too many refugees without proper security controls, noting that he has “reduced refugee resettlement by 85 percent” since taking office. The president thanked Mexico for agreeing to deploy its soldiers to help curtail illegal immigration at the border, pursuant to a deal the White House struck earlier this year — a move that Trump said would help avert a humanitarian crisis like the one unfolding in Europe.
At the rally, Trump said over 20,000 people were inside the arena — and over 25,000 were outside, out of nearly 100,000 who indicated online they wanted to attend.
Before the president took the stage, his son Eric Trump briefly encouraged a “lock him up” chant directed at Joe and Hunter Biden, before telling the crowd it wouldn’t be necessary because Biden will lose his bid for the White House.
As to the impeachment, the president said of the infamous phone call, that President Zelensky unequivocally told reporters the call involved no bribe, blackmail or quid pro quo, as impeachment-minded Democrats claimed.
“That should be the end of it,” Trump told rally-goers. “We released a transcript of that call, which was so good that Crooked [House Intelligence Committee Chairman] Adam Schiff had to make up a fake conversation that never happened, and he delivered it to the United States Congress and the American people. It was a total fraud. And then, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi said, ‘Oh, I think the president said that.’ These people are sick.”
Police removed protesters throughout the rally, which went ahead as scheduled even after Trump’s campaign threatened a lawsuit over the city’s effort to recover $530,000 in security costs relating to the event.