Trump urges ouster of senator

In a campaign stop in Great Falls, Mont., that was both political and personal, President Donald Trump targeted Democrat Jon Tester on Thursday in a bid to get more Republicans elected to the Senate but also to punish the lawmaker he blames for derailing his nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Appearing in a state he dominated in 2016, Trump cast Tester as a “liberal Democrat,” railing against his voting record on issues like abortion, immigration and taxes. While Tester opposed Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and the Republican tax bill, he also took flak from the left for a bill easing the rules on banks.

Tester tried to counter Trump’s visit by taking out a full-page ad Thursday in more than a dozen newspapers across the state thanking him for signing 16 bills the Democrat sponsored or co-sponsored.

Trump rallied in Great Falls to boost the candidacy of Tester’s Republican challenger, state Auditor Matt Rosendale, who is seeking to deny Tester a third term and give Montana an all-Republican congressional delegation. The president has made the Montana race a priority as he hopes to help Republicans tighten the party’s hold on the Senate. He welcomed Rosendale onto the stage, calling him a “very special person.”

“You deserve a senator who doesn’t just talk like he’s from Montana. You deserve a senator who actually votes like he’s from Montana,” Trump said.

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