Trump: ‘We’re liberating our towns’
At rally, president claims immigration victory
Fresh off a successful Senate health care vote, President Trump took his victory lap in a historically Democratic, staunchly working-class Ohio city, where he reassured thousands of his supporters that he’d make good on his promise to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“We’re now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this Obamacare nightmare, and delivering great health care for the American people,” Trump said last night during a raucous rally at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, a union-heavy enclave that has long boosted Democrats.
“It is much easier to act presidential than what we are doing here tonight, believe me,” Trump said. “With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office.”
And though his first six months in office has been historically tumultuous, Trump told the crowd that “with few exceptions, no president has done anywhere near what we’ve done in his first six months — not even close.”
Prior to his address, first lady Melania Trump whipped up the crowd with a surprise appearance and told them her husband will never back down.
“Washington has fought him every step of the way but I know my husband and he will never give up,” she said. “When it comes to the country and the people he loves, you can always count on him and I know you will always support him and always stand with him.”
As he has at other rallies since taking office, Trump told his supporters he was happy to be “far away” from the “swamp” of Washington, D.C.
The enthusiastic crowd appeared to feed off Trump’s energy with chants of “USA,” “Drain the swamp!” and “CNN sucks!”
Trump also heralded his crackdown on illegal immigration and said he is working with Republican senators to “create a new immigration system for America.”
“We’re liberating our towns and we’re liberating our cities,” he said as he endorsed legislation introduced by U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton and David Perdue that would put new limits on legal immigration.
“We want a merit-based system, one that protects our workers,” Trump said, and one that “protects our economy.”
The crowd got particularly revved up when Trump said he was focusing on disrupting illegal immigrant gangs and claimed “people are screaming from their windows, ‘Thank you, thank you’ ” to the border patrol and his Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly.
Law enforcement is “not doing it in a politically correct fashion,” Trump said. “Our guys are rougher than their guys.”