Trump tells rally Pelosi ‘crazy,’ ‘nuts’

DALLAS — President Donald Trump criticized Democrats at a rally Thursday night in Texas, calling his opponents “crazy” as they push forward on an impeachment inquiry.

A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats walked out of a White House meeting that they said had devolved into an insult-fest, Trump denounced her as “crazy Nancy.”

“She’s nuts,” he told the crowd at a packed stadium in Dallas.

“At stake in this fight is the survival of American democracy itself. Don’t kid yourselves,” Trump said, adding about the Democrats, “I really don’t believe anymore that they love our country.”

The comments come as Democrats continue their inquiry, deposing witness after witness as they build their case. But Trump and his campaign have tried to turn the inquiry into a rallying call for his supporters, accusing Democrats of using the constitutional process to try to overturn the results of the 2016 election.

“They’re coming after and fighting you and we never lose,” Trump said, predicting the 2020 election will be “a landslide” for Republicans.

Trump also continued his attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter’s work for a Ukraine energy company. Trump’s request to Ukrainian officials to investigate the Biden family are at the heart of the Democrats’ inquiry into whether Trump compromised national security and used his office to try to bolster his 2020 chances by pushing foreign governments to investigate one of his Democratic rivals.

Trump also took a few swipes at Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke.

The president seized on how O’Rourke proposed a mandatory buyback of assault-style rifles and his comments during a town hall last week that, if elected, he would seek to revoke the tax-exempt status of religious institutions that oppose same-sex marriage.

“Beto, in a few short weeks, got rid of guns and got rid of religion. Those are not two good things in Texas to get rid of,” Trump said Thursday.