Trump embarrasses GOP Senate candidate with unhinged campaign rant
Trump went to Missouri to fundraise for GOP Senate candidate Josh Hawley, who is challenging Sen. Claire McCaskill. It was a complete disaster.
Fresh off of the humiliating defeat of Republican Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania, Trump applied his toxic touch to Missouri Republican Josh Hawley’s Senate campaign Wednesday with a flurry of belligerent lies disguised as a fundraising speech.
The Washington Post obtained audio of Trump’s 30-minute speech to donors on behalf of Hawley, who is running against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. But according to the Post, Trump “barely spoke about Hawley.”
Instead, he spent his time regaling donors with attacks on U.S. allies like Canada. He bragged about repeatedly needling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over an imaginary trade deficit, when in reality the U.S.enjoys a small trade surplus with our neighbor to the north.
He also attacked Japan on trade, accusing the country of using a bizarre test for U.S. automobiles in Japan.
“It’s the bowling ball test,” he said. “They take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and drop it on the hood of the car. If the hood dents, the car doesn’t qualify. It’s horrible.”
He also threatened South Korea during a frightening riff on the Korean Peninsula.
“We have right now 32,000 soldiers on the border between North and South Korea,” he said. “Let’s see what happens.”
He also mocked concerns about his history of nuclear threats against North Korea. “He’s going to get us in a war,” Trump said, deriding a news anchor’s concerns about his behavior. “You know what’s going to get us in a war? Weakness.”
Trump’s performance on Hawley’s behalf is yet another example of the kind of “help” he has offered to Republican candidates like puppy-resistant Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania, alleged child molester Roy Moore in Alabama, and fellow racist Ed Gillespie in Virginia. Trump warmly embraced and supported each of those candidates, and each one lost.
It’s little wonder that National Republican Congressional Committee chairman Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio could not name a single battleground district where he would send Trump. And with a strong incumbent like McCaskill, Missouri isn’t the place for Trump, either.
Vulnerable Republicans may be secretly wishing for Trump to sit down and shut up. The good news for Democrats looking to take back Congress in November is there’s very little chance that will happen.
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