Shortly after stepping behind the podium at a campaign rally in Dallas, President Donald Trump launched into a string of fiery attacks on House Democrats over their impeachment push.
“I don’t really believe anymore that they love our country,” Trump said Thursday — just a few minutes into his speech.
“Crazy Nancy, think of that. That crazy Nancy, she is crazy,” Trump said of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “The radical Democrats want to destroy America as we know it. They want to indoctrinate our children and teach them that America is a sinful, wicked nation. You see that happening all the time.”
Trump visits Texas amid a continued impeachment inquiry by House Democrats and a day after a meeting about Syria at the White House with House and Senate leaders ended with the Democrats walking out.
Just prior to the meeting, the House had voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution condemning the president’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of northeastern Syria.
Thursday’s raucous event is Trump’s third rally in just seven days, following event in Minnesota last Thursday and Louisiana the following day.
It’s also the president’s second trip to Texas this year, a state he won by nine points in 2016 and one that some Democrats argue is ready to flip blue in 2020.
“Democrats and the media think they are going to turn Texas blue,” Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale told the rally crowd before the president took the stage, brushing off the speculation that Texas may be in play next year to a chorus of cheers.
The campaign dismissed the idea that the president was heading back to Texas out of fear that the state could be at risk.
“This is one of our biggest fundraising states, and the people here love the president — so of course we’re going to come back,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told ABC News.
This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
