Speaking Wednesday night at a rally in Fort Myers, Fla., President
Trump condemned the "far-left media" for "once again using tragedy to
sow anger and division" shortly after his visit to Pittsburgh in the
wake of Saturday's deadly mass shooting at a synagogue there.
The
approximately 8,500 supporters in the crowd at the Hertz Arena erupted
in a chant of "CNN sucks" as Trump paused. He then accused the media of
overblowing a protest in Pittsburgh during his visit, and "doing
everything in their power to play it up and push people apart."
CNN host Don Lemon
was fiercely criticized earlier in the day after
an on-air rant in which he declared that “white men” are the biggest
terror threat to the United States, adding that "there is no white-guy
ban" and wondering aloud, "What do we do about that?" A CNN spokeswoman
said neither Lemon nor CNN would have any further comment on his
statement.
Trump's broadsides were unrelenting: "The far-left
media has spread terrible lies and stories about the Trump
administration, and the tens of millions of people who make up our
movement -- the greatest political movement in the history of our
country," the president continued, as the crowd cheered.
On-air personalities at CNN and other networks have hammered Trump for his fiery rhetoric in the wake of last week's
mail bombs, which police say were directed at prominent liberals by
a supporter of the president, as well as Saturday's shooting -- even
though the alleged perpetrator in Pittsburgh, Robert Bowers, had posted
anti-Trump and anti-Semitic messages online.
CNN ANCHOR CONDEMNS RACIAL DIVISIONS, THEN CALLS WHITE MEN THE GREATEST TERROR THREAT
Close
to a thousand protesters, including some organized by the Jewish group
IfNotNow, demonstrated against Trump's visit in Pittsburgh -- with many
arguing that Trump's rhetoric has endorsed white supremacy.
IfNotNow advocates
for ending what it calls Israel's "occupation" of the Palestinian
territories; Trump formally moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem earlier
this year,
enraging groups like IfNotNow.
Earlier
in the day, Trump on Twitter took a shot at some Democrats in
Pittsburgh, including the city's mayor, who refused to meet with him
during his visit.
PACKAGES SENT TO TRUMP, PENTAGON CONTAINED POISON RICIN
Trump
then turned to the migrant caravans making their way through Mexico to
the U.S., saying, "They got a lot of rough people in those caravans --
they are not angels. They are not."
RAND PAUL, SHOT AT BY RADICAL FAR-LEFT GUNMAN LAST YEAR, WARNS OF ASSASSINATION PERIL
The White House has said that
up to 15,000 U.S. troops
could be deployed to the border if the caravan continues its approach.
The Pentagon also said Wednesday afternoon that its initial estimate was
for 7,000 troops at the border.
The president referred to
birthright citizenship -- the process by which the children of illegal
immigrants born on U.S. soil automatically become citizens -- as a
"crazy policy," echoing remarks he has made throughout the week.
"Illegal
aliens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States," Trump
said to applause at Wednesday's rally, to chants of "U-S-A!"
That
comment was significant, because the 14th Amendment reads: "All persons
born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state
wherein they reside."
FLASHBACK: TOP DEMOCRATIC SENATOR, IN 1993, SAID ONLY 'CRAZY' COUNTRIES WOULD HAVE BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
Some
Republicans are advancing the theory that illegal immigrants are not
"subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. within the meaning of that
provision, which would give Congress the legal daylight to pass a law
codifying Trump's view, modifying the current Immigration and
Naturalization Act (INA) of 1952.
DHS: SOME MEMBERS OF CARAVAN HAVE 'SIGNIFICANT' CRIMINAL HISTORIES
The
president was kicking off a final series of rallies, ahead of next
week's pivotal midterm elections, and fans had streamed into the
arena after lining up well before dawn, many wearing red shirts and
tossing beach balls.
"They got a lot of rough people in those caravans -- they are not angels."
— President Trump
A
few people wore Halloween attire — a man in an Uncle Sam hat, one in a
red cape, another dressed as a Revolutionary War soldier. While the
atmosphere was festive, the president's schedule appeared urgent: Trump
has
10 more rallies planned in 8 other battleground states
ahead of Election Day on Nov. 6, with two each in Indiana and Missouri,
plus stops in Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, Montana and West Virginia.
And, a new round of Fox News
state polls Wednesday showed several of those states remain tight.
Florida,
which Trump narrowly carried in the 2016 presidential election, is home
to two major, neck-and-neck races that Fox News
currently rates as toss-ups.
The
Republican Senate candidate, incumbent Gov. Rick Scott, is facing off
against Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, who has held the office since 2000
and leads by 2 points in the
RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump called Scott an "incredible asset" Wednesday night, saying he had
handled Hurricane Michael effectively earlier this year.
"Together,
we will ensure Florida comes back stronger than ever -- it's already
happening," Trump said. "Rick and everybody in Florida did a phenomenal
job."
Meanwhile, polls show GOP gubernatorial nominee Ron
DeSantis, a Trump ally, slightly trailing Democratic nominee and current
Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who has been besieged in recent days
by a series of document releases that show he may have lied about
potentially illegal campaign expenditures and donations.
The
president frequently referred to Scott and DeSantis as "Rick and Ron"
during Wednesday's rally, and said they had worked well together and, if
elected, would both "keep the Florida boom in full swing."
NEW FOX NEWS POLLS SHOW TRUMP POPULARITY REMAINS HIGH IN KEY SENATE BATTLEGROUNDS
Trump already has taken public shots against Gillum, calling him a "stone-cold thief" in
a Fox News interview
on Monday, after the state ethics commission released documents that
showed he accepted tickets to the Broadway musical "Hamilton" from an
undercover FBI agent posing as a local developer in the summer of 2016.
Gillum has maintained he assumed his brother bought the tickets.
Other
disclosures from the investigation into possible corruption in the
Tallahassee government appeared to show Gillum illegally using city
funds for campaign trips that his office apparently misrepresented as
official business.
Gillum
struck back on Twitter,
writing that it's never wise to "wrestle with a pig." He also has
accused DeSantis of failing to be fully transparent about roughly
$150,000 in taxpayer-funded travel expenses he has incurred during his
six years in Congress. DeSantis is not legally required to provide
detailed receipts for those expenses.
GILLUM STAFFER FIRED AFTER CALLING FOR TRUMP'S EXECUTION
All
congresspeople receive an allowance for traveling during their time in
office, including to attend interviews and answer questions, and
DeSantis has said those funds were used for hotel stays and travel
expenses. His spokeswoman has said the money went to "official office
travel that included official media appearances."
While Trump is
not on the ballot in November, both Democratic and Republican
strategists have reported that Trump's rallies — the centerpiece of his
unconventional and underestimated 2016 campaign — have been a boost for
local candidates, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in free
media and boosting Republicans in post-rally polls.
At least one local business allowed employees to take the day off if they attended the rally.
The
atmosphere leading up to the speech was like a rock concert, with some
people batting a large beach ball in the bleachers as the Village
People's "Macho Man" blared over the sound system.
By Election
Day, Trump will have held 30 rallies since Labor Day, according to the
White House. He's been holding events in competitive House districts and
in states with competitive Senate and gubernatorial races.
More than 3.4 million people already have voted in Florida, surpassing the number who voted early or by mail four years ago.