Trump: ‘Go Out and Vote for Roy Moore’

PENSACOLA, Florida — President Donald Trump returned on Friday to one of the pivotal states that gave him the presidency last year, even while delivering a message to its neighbor to the north: Reject Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race.

A large number of Alabama residents were in the audience at Trump’s rally at the packed Pensacola Bay Center. Judging by the response when the president asked how many were from the Heart of Dixie — it was close to half of the roughly 12,000 people there.

Trump said America needs a senator from Alabama who will support conservative judges, “great trade deals,” gun rights, and tax cuts.

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“So get out and vote for Roy Moore,” he said — eliciting loud cheers from the crowd.

Prior to his arrival, Trump tweeted a message of support for Moore, a former state Supreme Court chief justice. Moore’s campaign for the Senate seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions had sputtered since The Washington Post reported allegations he inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl back in the 1970s, when he was a 32-year-old prosecutor.

Since then, other women have come forward to accuse Moore of mistreating them.

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The allegations notwithstanding — and Moore has denied them — Trump said Jones would oppose his agenda.

“He will never, ever vote for us,” said Trump. “We need someone in that seat who will vote for our Make America Great Again [agenda].”

Trump said Jones would be a pawn for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

“We cannot afford, the future of this country cannot afford, to lose a seat in the very, very close United States Senate,” said the president. “We can’t afford it, folks. We cannot afford to have a liberal Democrat who is completely controlled by Pelosi and Schumer.”

Moore appeared popular inside the arena, but it is a different story in Alabama, where some polls have shown him leading in the race. Trump seized on the news Friday that one of Moore’s accusers, Beverly Young Nelson, acknowledged writing some notes in a high school yearbook that she had offered to support her claim that Moore tried to rape her in 1977 when she was 16 after offering to give her a ride home from work.

The yearbook, purportedly signed by Moore, disputes his contention that he never met Nelson. Moore’s lawyers have argued that the entry is not in his handwriting. They have challenged the woman’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, to let the book be tested by an independent expert.

On Friday, Nelson told ABC she added the date and place to remind her of who Moore was. But she insisted — and an expert hired by Allred confirmed — that Moore wrote the rest of it.

Trump depicted Nelson as a liar.

“Did you see that?” he asked. “There was a little mistake made. She started writing things in the yearbook.”

The boisterous crowds inside the Pensacola Bay Center and their enthusiastic reactions during Trump’s speech resembled the days of the presidential campaign last year. Frequently, people broke into chants of “USA! USA!” and jeered references to the “fake news media.”

Outside, dozens of protesters stood in the cold, rainy weather for a chance to register their displeasure with the 45th president. “Fake POTUS,” read one sign. Other people took shots at Moore. One held a sign reading, “GOP Glosses Over Pedophilia.” Another played off Moore’s name: “No Moore Trump.”

Two of the loudest cheers inside came from a reference Trump made to religion and an allusion to the controversy revolving around the national anthem kneeling protests by some NFL players.

“America does not worship government,” said President Trump. “We worship God.”

Later in his speech, he added, “We believe that every American should stand for the national anthem.”

“They don’t want to accept the results of an election where we won by a landslide.”

Trump peppered his speech with the populist themes that propelled him into the White House. He lashed out at his critics in the Democratic Party and the media.

“They don’t want to accept the results of an election where we won by a landslide,” he said.

He used his appearance in a city with a large naval base to depict Democrats as indifferent to the harm that a government shutdown would cause the military. “It’s time for Democrats to drop the threats of government shutdown and support a clean appropriation that fully supports our military,” he said.

Trump referenced the self-styled resistance to his presidency.

“They’re resisting the will of the American people,” he said. “That’s what they’re resisting.” That brought a chorus of 2016-style “Lock her up!” chants — referring, of course, to failed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Trump attributed much of the opposition to attempts by the wealthy precincts in and around the nation’s capital to hold onto a status quo in which they have unfairly benefited from the stagnation of the rest of America.

Related: Rep. Gaetz: People Who Hate Trump Are Investigating Him

“They’re resisting change because the only thing they really care about is protecting what they’ve been able to do,” he said. “They like things the way they used to be. They don’t like it the way it is now — although, I tell you, they’re doing pretty well, too.”

Trump took credit for a host of positive economic statistics — record stock market closes, economic growth exceeding 3 percent, a 17-year low in the unemployment rate, and a 17-year high in consumer confidence. And he rightly took credit for the return of “Merry Christmas” greetings across the nation these days.

Trump also hit a number of familiar targets: sanctuary cities, the ISIS terrorist group, the United Nations, illegal immigration, Obamacare, and one-sided trade deals. He said the United States has the leverage to renegotiate those pacts.

“We’re the big piggy bank that everybody likes to rob,” said Trump. “The whole world robs us.”

PoliZette senior writer Brendan Kirby can be reached at [email protected].