Washington - US President Donald Trump wasted little time
at a campaign rally in Dallas attacking the Democrats leading an
impeachment probe against him, saying "Crazy Nancy" and "Shifty
Schiff" hate the United States.
"The Democrats have betrayed our country," he said to cheers, as he
said the 2020 election is about the "survival of American democracy."
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Chairman Adam B Schiff
say they are investigating the president and mulling articles of
impeachment to preserve the country's democratic republic.
When she announced the inquiry last month, Pelosi quoted Founding
Father Benjamin Franklin, who once warned of the challenges that
would be faced with trying to "keep it" - referring to the form of
government the founders had set up.
To Trump, the special counsel's Russia probe and now the impeachment
inquiry shows Democrats are "trying to overthrow the results of ...
maybe the greatest election in the history of our country."
"Don't kid yourself, that's what they want. But we will never let it
happen - not even close," he told the rallygoers Thursday, before
accusing Democrats of intending to "indoctrinate" America's children
with a "socialist" agenda.
The crowd roared as he dropped his latest derisive nickname for the
speaker and his still-new one for the Intelligence panel chairman.
Trump circled behind his lectern as a "Four more years" chant echoed
through the massive arena. He called all congressional Democrats
"sick people."
Pelosi on Wednesday questioned his mental health.
"They won't come close in 2020. They know it. They're not going to
win it. They said, 'Let's see, what another idea,' " Trump said,
suggesting again that the impeachment probe was merely designed to
sink his reelection bid. "I don't believe anymore that they love our
country. I don't believe it."
The president stepped onstage inside the American Airlines Arena,
home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, after raising 5.5 million dollars
at two Republican fundraisers earlier in the day, according to a
Republican National Committee official. The Dallas rally and
fundraisers came as the Lone Star State is no longer considered the
dark shade of deep red it was just a few years back.
A senior Trump campaign official earlier this week said the
reelection organization and Republican Party has seen a surge in
campaign cash donations - and voter registration - since House
Democrats launched their impeachment probe late last month. But that
official acknowledged there's lots of work left in places such as
Texas.
An average of several polls compiled by RealClearPolitics shows the
president already faces a tough fight in Texas as he and the eventual
Democratic nominee will jockey for the state's massive haul of 38
electoral votes.
The latest RCP averages give former Vice President Joe Biden a
3.5-point lead over the president in Texas, while Massachusetts
Senator Elizabeth Warren trails Trump by 2.5 points.
The president also used his favorite derisive nicknames for Biden and
Warren on Thursday, saying the former likely won't win the Democratic
nomination and giving the latter "credit" for her recent surge in the
polls.
He also mocked and slammed Biden and his son Hunter over what Trump
is calling "corruption" for their actions in Ukraine when the former
vice president pressed Ukraine's former government to oust someone
the Obama administration saw as a crooked prosecutor while his son
was on the board of a Ukrainian energy firm. (Neither Biden has been
charged with wrongdoing in either country.)
Trump's remarks again show how he intends to use harsh rhetoric to
wage a bare-knuckle reelection bid.
One GOP political strategist let out a long sigh when asked recently
if he thinks states such as Texas and Georgia - longtime GOP
strongholds - are actually in play.
"I should say, 'Do you really think Texas - Texas! - is going to
vote for Joe Biden or a liberal like Elizabeth Warren? Give me a
break," the strategist said. "But I can't really say that. Not right
now. I think Georgia is more of the threat to Trump - but neither
one should be this close, to be honest."