Trump rallied for Kentucky governor but impeachment was on his mind
LEXINGTON, Ky. — President Donald Trump came here Monday night to rally for Kentucky’s vulnerable Republican governor, but the impeachment inquiry in Washington was foremost on his mind.
In a rambling speech lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes, the president railed against his political rivals, ramping up the invective. Democrats are “trying to tear our country apart,” he told a raucous crowd, “trying to nullify the ballots” of the 63 million Americans who voted for him in the 2016 election.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Trump’s onetime rival for the Republican nomination who has become a close ally, angrily defended the president from the stage. Addressing the genesis of the impeachment investigation, which centers on a pressure campaign involving Ukraine, Paul said, “We also now know the identity of the whistleblower,” and he urged the media to out the individual and Congress to issue a subpoena, despite the legal protections guaranteed to government whistleblowers.
“I say tonight to the media: Do your job and print his name,” Paul said.
The identity of the whistleblower has not been publicly confirmed, though Paul has tweeted an article that claims to identify the official. The whistleblower's lawyers wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post last month arguing their client’s identity is irrelevant because recent testimonies have backed up and exceeded the whistleblower's initial claims.
Trump teased Paul for having “that little libertarian touch” but mostly lauded him for being a loyal ally in the Senate.
“Whenever I needed him, he was always there. It’s true. I mean, sometimes, like, I’ll say, 'I don’t need your vote, Rand,' and he’ll say, 'Good,' and he’ll vote his own way and that’s OK,” the president said, grinning.
Trump did tout Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky ahead of his reelection bid Tuesday, but he also offered a post-impeachment playbook for his own reelection bid 365 days away.
While the “dangerous” Democrats are busy impeaching him and trying to “indoctrinate your children” against “traditional American values,” the president said, his administration is responsible for record-high stock prices showing a strong economy and for foreign policy achievements.
“We can’t let our country go back to hell,” Trump said, offering a dystopian vision of a Democratic victory in 2020, in which the economy would suffer a crippling depression and corruption would be rampant.
He trashed former Vice President Joe Biden as gaffe-prone, House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff as “shifty” and The Washington Post, which is reporting on the impeachment inquiry, as “disgusting.”
Trump was introduced by singer Lee Greenwood, who offered a live rendition of “God Bless the USA,” a Trump rally staple.
The rally was held at Rupp Arena, home to the University of Kentucky men's basketball team, which is worshiped in this part of the commonwealth. It’s a massive venue that seats more than 20,000 — the largest basketball-specific arena in the NCAA — and it was mostly full by the time Trump arrived onstage shortly after 7 p.m.
The thousands of red-clad attendees represented a striking, if odd, contrast to the arena’s all-blue decor, which matches the school's colors. Red is the color of in-state rival University of Louisville — a fact that wasn’t lost on the Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale.
“I have to say, this is the most red in this building — ever!” Parscale exclaimed in remarks to the crowd.
Attendees sitting behind the president’s stage also wore matching white T-shirts with “READ THE TRANSCRIPT” emblazoned on the front. The line has been both a rallying cry and a default defense for Trump since he released a partial transcript of his July 25 phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine that prompted the whistleblower’s report.
Trump was here in a state he carried by 30 points in 2016 to campaign with Bevin, who is locked in a close race on Tuesday with his Democratic opponent, Andy Beshear. It’s the latest example of the Trump campaign’s post-2018 strategy of visiting red states and districts the day before an election to juice Republican turnout the next day.
“I like the Monday nights because I think we’re 58 and 0,” Trump said. “That’s a good record, even for the [Kentucky] Wildcats.”
Bevin began the campaign as one of the most unpopular governors in the country, thanks to an abrasive style and a history of controversial remarks. But he’s been drafting off Trump to clinch reelection, and the final polls suggest he’s caught Beshear after trailing for most of the summer.
Trump called Beshear “a major lefty” and nodded to Bevin’s vulnerabilities — but spun them as positives to a friendly crowd.
“We work together. Now he is difficult, I have to say. You know, maybe it’ll cost him the election,” Trump said, recalling phone calls from Bevin to encourage economic development in Kentucky.
“He’s such a pain in the ass,” Trump said. “But that’s what you want” in a governor.
Trump also touted a number of other Kentucky Republicans. He called Daniel Cameron, the 33-year-old nominee for state attorney general, “a star.”
After Cameron — a former staffer for Sen. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader — spoke briefly to the crowd, Trump exclaimed: “A star is born! Did you ever see that movie? ‘A Star is Born'!”
The president also introduced McConnell, who’s up for reelection next year. McConnell told the crowd he and Trump were working to “change the courts forever” by stocking the judiciary with conservative judges.
Trump said McConnell’s likely 2020 opponent, Democrat Amy McGrath, would be “easy” to beat. But the president also pledged to return to Kentucky to support McConnell in his election battle.
“So next November, this state needs to defend its values and vote for rock-ribbed Kentucky conservative Mitch McConnell,” Trump said. “But we’re going to get back to that later. We’ll be back many times. We’ll be back here many times, Mitch!”
