Defiant Trump at Pennsylvania Rally: ‘It All Started with the Russia Witch Hunt’

By Robyn Kenney | December 11, 2019

On the same day that Democrats finally approved the USMCA trade deal — which President Donald Trump himself brokered more than a year ago — and the same day that these same anti-Trump House Dems moved forward with two articles of impeachment against him, the president walked out on stage in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with his usual bravado and big-on-America messages, seeming far from a man who appeared threatened.

Related: USMCA Is ‘A Trump Win’ and ‘A Win for the American People’

During his roughly 75-minute speech to an overflow crowd at the Giant Center, he appeared, in fact, to be a man unshaken.

“The survival of our country is at stake,” he said about the next election.

“We will destroy our country if these people get in,” he said, referring to Democrats who seek to replace him in the White House.

Crowds had begun gathering in Hershey in the early morning hours, well before the 7 p.m. event.

Check out this tweet, for example.

The rally in the battleground state, which marked Trump’s 35th visit to Pennsylvania since the start of his candidacy in 2016, was met with a mild smattering of protesters that security was prepared to handle.

The release of Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report this week also heightened the energy of the event, as the report has inspired extremely disparate interpretations in the press, to put it mildly — as well as between government officials.

Said Trump on Tuesday night, “It all started with the Russia witch hunt, right? Then the inspector general’s shocking report proved that the Obama FBI obtained secret warrants to spy on my campaign based on a phony foreign dossier, of debunked smears, paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC.”

The president continued, “The FBI failed to disclose the nature of the political hit job to the FISA Court, they hid it, they deceived it, and they lied.”

The crowd was all in with the president.

High-profile figures on the Left are choosing to read the IG report quite differently.

Related: Horowitz Report Disappoints GOP, Yet Durham Begs to Differ

They’re claiming it vindicates the investigations into the Trump campaign and reveals evidence of no wrongdoing on the part of the Obama administration.

Former U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova believes such an assessment by fired FBI Director James Comey to be delusional, as Fox News noted in a piece on Tuesday. “Comey claimed an apparent victory over the FBI’s handling of the Trump-Russia probe in 2016, saying criticism of the probe ‘was all lies’ after Justice Department Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz said investigators found no intentional misconduct or political bias surrounding efforts to launch the 2016 investigation.”

Said diGenova, “He [Comey] has talked himself into believing — and he’s a very, very good actor — he tries to be convincing but, in fact … [he had a] disgraceful downfall. He basically destroyed the integrity of the FBI not only with the Hillary Clinton investigation with the server, but he basically decided he was going to destroy an American presidential candidate and then a president — and he almost succeeded.”

“If Hillary would have won, we never would have known about any of this,” diGenova added in his comments to Fox News. “Trump has saved the country by winning.”

For this reason and more, battleground state supporters of Trump welcomed him with loud cheers for his pro-America agenda — and offered well-timed boos whenever he mentioned House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has led the impeachment charge against him.

Trump said he and his supporters, along with his administration, have been draining the D.C. swamp ever since the American people elected him and will continue to do so. Trump also doubled down on his dealings with Ukraine as perfectly upstanding.

The president also vowed that the corrupt Washington Establishment — in line with his recent tweets and press comments referring to Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), as well as former Vice President Joe Biden, would be exposed and defeated.

“Day after day, we are exposing the depravity, dishonesty and sickness of the corrupt Washington establishment — and with your help, we are going to complete the mission and DRAIN THE SWAMP!” said Trump.

Trump ended this rally, as he does with virtually all rallies, by thanking the people of Pennsylvania and the rest of the country, as well as the political movement that propelled him into office.

And he praised the U.S. as “one glorious nation under God.”

“THANK YOU PENNSYLVANIA! With your help, your devotion, and your drive, we are going to keep on working, we are going to keep on fighting, and we are going to keep ON WINNING! We are ONE movement, ONE people, ONE family, and ONE GLORIOUS NATION UNDER GOD!”

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This piece originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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