Trump sticks to themes in Pennsylvania
President gives blessing to Senate hopeful’s bid
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — President Donald Trump returned to Northeast Pennsylvania on Thursday night to savor his 2016 victory, rehash familiar grievances with the “fake news” that he says refuses to credit his successes, and to stump for U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, the Republican trying to defeat U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
“We are respected again,” Trump told a largely adoring crowd, boasting of a booming economy and a nation standing up for its workers against unfair foreign trade. “The forgotten men and women of the United States are forgotten no more.”
His roughly 76-minute rally followed what has been a pattern for the president: As the criticism and the Washington investigations and the White House infighting ramp up, Trump reverts to campaign mode and retreats to the base that sustains him.
And so it was in the heart of Luzerne County, one of the places that helped him win the White House two years ago — and one seen as a possible bellwether for his party’s chances in the crucial midterm elections.
Before thousands in a hockey arena, Trump revisited a host of familiar themes in his usual stream-of-consciousness style, including his demand for a border wall and other efforts to stem illegal immigration, the issue that brought Barletta to prominence and boosted his own political rise.
The Wall? “We’re building it,” Trump insisted. “And we’re going to start getting very nasty about it.” He also called for a bigger border patrol force instead of more immigration judges to hear asylum claims. “It’s our country, so get the hell out,” he said.
Trump also challenged the accounts of his international diplomatic efforts, denying he had treated Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain rudely, and pronouncing last month’s summit meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin a success.
“We discussed everything. We got along really well. By the way, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” Trump said.