President Donald Trump has a long memory.
The president was outraged in April when his choice to run the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) withdrew amid allegations that he was not qualified and that, as a doctor, he had overprescribed pain medication. Trump blamed Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) for scuttling the nomination.
On Thursday night at a rally in Billings, Montana, Trump took aim at the incumbent.
“What Tester did to Adm. Jackson should never, ever be allowed. Ronny Jackson is a great man,” he said. “Ronny Jackson has led a great and beautiful life. And to have lies told about him — I would never repeat them.”
Trump said Tester “will never drain the swamp because he happens to live in the swamp, and he loves the swamp.”
Tester, Trump suggested, is running a con on Montana voters.
“Everybody knows Jon Tester’s game — he says one thing in Montana, but does the exact opposite in Washington,” he said. “That’s what happens. He’ll come home and tell you about your Second Amendment; then he’ll vote for something where it knocks the hell out of it. Jon Tester talks like he’s from Montana. Then he votes like he’s Nancy Pelosi.”
Trump noted that Tester voted against last year’s tax cuts, voted for Obamacare, and in 2016 opposed Kate’s Law, which would have increased criminal penalties on illegal immigrants who return to the United States after deportation.
Tester also voted against Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation.
Related: Farmer and Rancher Face Off in Key 2018 Montana Senate Race
Trump urged voters to back Republican state auditor Matt Rosendale, who he claimed is leading in the polls but who had trailed in the only two public surveys — by 8 percentage points June and by 3 points in July.
The president noted that Jackson had been his personal physician and had pronounced the commander-in-chief in great health.
“And the Democrats, liberals, the deep state — they were very upset to hear that,” he said. “So they got tougher and tougher, and they lied more, and they write more books now. I never saw — I got books stacked up this high.”
“Jon Tester talks like he’s from Montana. Then he votes like he’s Nancy Pelosi.”
Trump also addressed the story that has electrified the political class in Washington — a New York Times op-ed by an anonymous administration official claiming he or she is part of a resistance movement inside the government.
Trump called the writer an “anonymous, gutless coward.”
The president added: “For the sake of our national security, The New York Times should publish his name at once. I think their reporters should go in there and investigate who it is. That would actually be a good story.”
Related: Farmer and Rancher Face Off in Montana’s Key 2018 Senate Race
Trump praised his nominee for the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, and said Democratic senators are “looking like fools, frankly — looking like fools.”
The same goes for the demonstrators who repeatedly have interrupted Kavanaugh’s hearing, Trump said.
“It’s embarrassing to watch those people make fools of themselves, as they scream and shout at this great gentleman,” he said.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.