On road, Trump rallies base, basks in GOP wins
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Struggling to advance his agenda in Washington, President Trump traveled to the Midwest on Wednesday for a raucous rally with his loyal supporters — the kind of event he relished before winning the White House.
Trump touched down Wednesday evening in rainy Cedar Rapids and headed to a local community college, where he got a look at agriculture technology innovations before leading a campaign rally.
He reveled in Georgia Republican Karen Handel’s congressional victory in an election viewed as an early referendum on his presidency.
“We’re 5-0 in special elections,” Trump said in front of a boisterous crowd that packed a downtown arena. “The truth is, people love us ... they haven’t figured it out yet.”
He also applauded Republican Ralph Norman, who notched a slimmer-than-expected win in a special election to fill the South Carolina congressional seat vacated by Mick Mulvaney, and mocked Handel’s challenger, Jon Ossoff, saying the Democrats “spent $30 million on this kid who forgot to live in the district.”
Trump, no stranger to victory laps, turned his visit to a battleground state he captured in November into a celebration of his resilience despite the cloud of investigations that has enveloped his administration and sent his poll numbers tumbling.
With the appearance in Cedar Rapids, he has held five rallies in the first five months in office.
The event underscores Trump’s comfort in a campaign setting. He laughed off the occasional heckler, repeated riffs from last year’s rallies and appeared far more at ease when going after Democrats in front of adoring crowds than trying to push through his own legislative agenda from the confines of the White House.
Trump’s aides are making a renewed push to get the president out of Washington. The capital is consumed with the investigation into Russian meddling in last year’s election and Trump’s firing of his FBI director.
Campaign rallies energize Trump by placing him in front of supporters who have stuck by him and are likely to dismiss the investigations as Beltway chatter.