President Donald Trump fulfilled a terminally ill man’s dying wish by calling him on the phone on Tuesday evening, saying it was “an honor” to do so.
Jay W. Barrett, 44, is from Connecticut and has cystic fibrosis.
He recently moved to home hospice care. Doctors say he has six months to live, according to the New Haven Register.
Barrett, an avid supporter of Trump’s, hopes to be able to vote for the president in the 2020 presidential election. He also dearly wished to speak with the president before he died.
So Barrett’s sister, First District City Councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie — a devout Democrat — worked to facilitate the phone call as a surprise for her brother.
The president called Barrett on Tuesday evening in a moving moment captured on video.
“How is it going, Jay?” Trump asked.
Barrett replied, “It’s going, you know what I mean?”
Trump told him, “You are a champ. You’re fighting it, right? You’re just fighting it?”
Barrett replied, “That’s what the Irish do, right?”
The president agreed. “Yeah. That’s what the Irish do. You keep that fight going. We both fight, OK? You keep that going, OK?”
Barrett told Trump, “I will do my end.”
The president said he wished Barrett could attend one of his rallies.
“I wish you could come. I know you like that stuff and I wish you could,” Trump said, adding that “you’ll be sitting front row, center” next time he’s “up around that territory.”
Related: Trump Wishes ‘Fake News Media’ a Merry Christmas After They Trash His Phone Call
Barrett said, “Listen, if you can pencil me in I’ll find a way to get there.”
He told the president that he hopes to make the trek toward Washington, D.C. “between now and my expiration date.”
After Barrett thanked the president for calling, Trump replied, “It’s an honor.”
The president also told Barrett, “It sounds like you have a great sister, Jay.”
“You’re my kind of man, Jay … I’m very proud of you,” Trump said. “I’ll talk to you again, Jay, OK? You keep that fight going. We both fight.”
Barrett told the New Haven Register he was thrilled that the president actually called him and spoke with him.
“I can’t believe that he called — I’m ecstatic about it … It was an amazing experience,” Barrett said, adding that Trump told him that “we need people like you on our side — fighters.”
“I told him, ‘I plan on voting for you in 2020, God permitting,'” Barrett told the outlet.
Check out more in the video below:
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