Last Updated Oct 13, 2018 8:30 PM EDT
President Trump hit Democrats as an “angry mob” while heaping praise on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell while at a rally Saturday night in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky. Mr. Trump’s rally is in support of Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing a tough re-election battle against Democrat Amy McGrath.
Mr. Trump categorized voting in the midterm elections as “you can vote for Democrat mob rule or you an vote for a Republican party that stands proudly for law and order, fairness, freedom and justice.”
In the last few weeks of the 2018 midterm campaign, Mr. Trump and Republicans have seized on describing Democrats as the party of an “angry mob.” Mr. Trump used similar language in rallies earlier this week.
Mr. Trump described McConnell as “staring down an angry left-wing mob” during the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. McConnell, Mr. Trump said, “never blinked, never looked back and got us a man who will be one of our great, great Supreme Court justices.”
As Mr. Trump came out on stage, he spoke about the release of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who was released from detention in Turkey on Friday and met with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office on Saturday. Mr. Trump praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as “terrific.”
Mr. Trump insisted the U.S. did not offer anything in return for Brunson’s release, saying “we don’t pay ransom.”
Barr’s race is one of the most closely watched House races in the country. Although he represents a district which voted for Mr. Trump by 15 points in 2016, McGrath is an unusually formidable Democratic challenger.
A former fighter pilot and first-time candidate, McGrath has garnered local and national attention for her viral campaign videos, small-dollar donations and refusal to run negative ads. The CBS News Battleground Tracker rates this race as “Edge Republican.”
Caroline Linton contributed to this report.
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