President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in Mesa on Friday night, October 19, at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport to encourage supporters to vote for Republicans in the midterm elections, including Arizona Senate candidate Martha McSally.
Here are some of the highlights:
7:40 p.m. The President Stops Talking
As soon as Trump finished his speech, music was piped into the hangar. The song by the Rolling Stones: "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
The Stones' Mick Jagger has asked the president to stop using the band's music.
7:14 p.m.: Outside the Airport, Trump Supporters Showed Their Support for Judge Kavanaugh.
A crowd of Trump supporters, at one point chanting “we like beer,” followed one of the few protestors out of here. #TrumpinAZ pic.twitter.com/Kp8fcFhyhj
— Steven Hsieh (@stevenjhsieh) October 20, 2018
7:10 p.m.: Stumping for Martha McSally
Trump said a vote for Congresswoman McSally "will be the second greatest vote you have ever cast ... the first greatest was for me."
He also criticized McSally's opponent, Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema: "She voted to support deadly sanctuary cities. ... and a vote for Kyrsten Sinema is a wasted vote and moreover it's a dangerous vote" because it could return Democrats to power in the Congress.
McSally also gets the name wrong of deceased Mesa Police Officer Sgt. Brandon Mendoza.
Martha McSally gets the name of deceased cop Sgt. Brandon Mendoza wrong. She incorrectly calls him Brian. #TrumpInAZ Video: https://t.co/jax0LPfowv
— PhoenixNewTimes (@phoenixnewtimes) October 20, 2018
7:03 p.m.: Martha McSally Comes Out Immediately Calling out Kyrsten Sinema.
"we are not crazy here." "we are not a meth lab of democracy." -@marthamcsally #TrumpInAZ #AZSen
— Dillon Rosenblatt (@DillonReedRose) October 20, 2018
7:00 p.m.: Trump Claims Early Votes Show McSally in the Lead.
We did some fact checking and found nothing to support this claim.
Trump says "the early voting shows that Martha [McSally] is way ahead." I could be wrong, but I don't think they have released any early voter info yet. #TrumpinAZ #AZSen
— Dillon Rosenblatt (@DillonReedRose) October 20, 2018
6:56 p.m.: A Brief Recap of Trump's First Few Minutes Speaking.
A few min in, Trump pushing hard for votes for Republicans in Nov.:
— Elizabeth Whitman (@elizabethwhitty) October 20, 2018
- “They’re all talking about AZ, & they’re talking abt Martha McSally” (GOP Senate candidate)
- Calls Democrats “an angry unhinged mob”
- “Your vote in this election will decide which party controls Congress”
6:52 p.m.: Trump Begins His Speech.
The president brought the partisan crowd to their feet when he said:
"This November, vote for the jobs, not the mobs."
Then he took a shot at potential rival Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic senator, who recently took a DNA test that showed she had only a tiny percentage of Native American ancestry. "We can no longer call her Pocohontas ... she has no Indian blood. We'll have to come up with another name for her."
6:44 p.m. The President Has Arrived
6:18 p.m.: What's That Smell?
The smell of horse manure/animals is wafting through the press area (and I’m guessing the rest of the hangar too) at the #trumpinaz rally. Beat It is rocking through the speakers. The sun has finally gone down and it’s cooling off. Trump scheduled to speak soon pic.twitter.com/nrK7x83X5v
— Elizabeth Whitman (@elizabethwhitty) October 20, 2018
6:02 p.m.: Ducey Praises "Booming" Economy
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey urged the crowd to support down-ballot Arizona Republicans in the midterms.
“Today, under President Trump, our economy is booming thanks to historic tax reform,” Ducey said.
He said that Trump is “wiping away useless regulations and has set the American economy free.”
Ducey raised the specter of “activist judges” and said that they are grateful for Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, both Trump appointees.
The governor also gave a shout out to Senate candidate Martha McSally — a former combat fighter pilot, McSally has been fighting for her country her entire life, Ducey said.
Who better to send to Washington, D.C., to straighten out politicians than a fighter pilot, Ducey asked.
In the end, Trump was still nowhere close to taking the stage by the time Ducey’s speech was over and the governor left the stage.
5:35 p.m.: Andy Biggs Warns, "It's Jobs or Mobs"
Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs, who represents the Fifth District, where the rally was held on Friday, took to the stage after Republican Secretary of State candidate Steve Gaynor and Arizona Republican Party chairman Jonathan Lines.
Biggs listed President Trump’s accomplishments. He said that President Trump is the most pro-life president in history, plus the economy has more people working than ever before.
“We’re rebuilding the military that Obama decimated,” Biggs said.
He said that Congress needs to pass a bill Biggs introduced to build the border wall, to which the crowd responded with a chant.
Biggs said they need Martha McSally in the Senate and to keep the House of Representatives red.
He ran down a list of Republican nightmares if Democrats take the House: impeaching Trump; abolishing ICE; buoying people like Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters.
“It’s jobs or mobs,” Biggs said.
4:51 p.m.: The Stage Is Set, And So Is The Music
Stage is set for Trump in Mesa, AZ. Current song playing over the loudspeakers: “Sympathy for the Devil.” pic.twitter.com/MqNZaZRBkw
— Joseph Flaherty (@flahertyjoseph) October 19, 2018
4:26 p.m.: Protesters From Both Sides Are Lining Up Outside Mesa Gateway Airport
Handful of anti-Trump protesters outside Mesa Gateway Airport. #TrumpinAZ pic.twitter.com/Yjd597NOmc
— Elizabeth Whitman (@elizabethwhitty) October 19, 2018
Here at the Trump rally in Mesa, a small contingent of Proud Boys, the violent SPLC-designated hate group that participated in brawls in New York this week. #TrumpInAZ pic.twitter.com/ne3DV0E8Pq
— Steven Hsieh (@stevenjhsieh) October 19, 2018
3:50 p.m.: Mesa Police Tweet That All the Parking Is Gone
PARKING UPDATE (3:50 PM): Presidential event parking is now at capacity. There will be no alternative parking available. #TrumpInAZ pic.twitter.com/kFqxfz1PCo
— Mesa Police Dept. (@MesaPD) October 19, 2018
3 p.m.: Watch This Reminder of Trump's Last Visit to Phoenix.
