At a post-debate rally in Montgomery, Alabama, Thursday evening, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) delivered a resounding endorsement of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore for U.S. Senate. Gohmert strongly implied President Donald Trump endorsed opponent Sen. Luther Strange based on “bad advice.”
“I’m here because I’ve been in the swamp, I have seen what goes on, and we desperately need a man like Roy Moore to help us get that swamp drained,” Gohmert said as the first of the evening’s headliners before the energized Moore crowd.
Breitbart News broke the news of Gohmert’s decision to back Moore Thursday.
Former Alaska Governor and Tea Party leader Sarah Palin, former deputy assistant to President Trump and Breitbart News national security editor Dr. Sebastian Gorka, and Moore himself later addressed the same audience.
Gohmert stressed that, despite Trump’s decision to endorse Strange, he was still a supporter. “I have so much appreciation for President Donald Trump. I think God has given America another chance when he won that election, he wants so badly to help America be great again and get back on track again,” he said, before adding in an apparent reference to the Strange endorsement: “And, sometimes, he gets bad advice.”
As an example, Gohmert cited Trump’s decision to endorse Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) after GOP leaders advised it would be for party unity. “[Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-KY] encouraged him to go to Arizona and help a guy named John McCain because it was really gonna help the country,” Gohmert said. “Now, President Trump wanted to help the country and where he was before — in private business — if somebody was helping him, they wouldn’t have dared lie to Donald Trump, but it’s a new experience for him in Washington.”
McConnell endorsed Strange and, through his Senate Leadership Fund PAC, has dumped millions of dollars behind him in the Alabama Senate special election. He is rumored to have played a role in President Trump himself endorsing Strange.
Gohmert similarly criticized McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) for their advice to the president during the disastrous attempt to pass “Ryancare” this year. “I know also the first healthcare bill that was trotted out by the leaders of the House and Senate, they told President Trump, ‘Everybody loves it’ … and he trusted them,” Gohmert said, continuing:
If we had passed that first bill, then a year later when people saw their huge increased premiums from health care, they would have voted the Republicans out of the majority and the first act of Congress in January of 2019 would be to impeach Donald Trump … He’s gotten some bad advice. He is a faster learning than anybody I’ve ever seen.
In closing, Gohmert took a jab at Luther Strange, who, during the debate preceding the rally, relied heavily on the president’s endorsement. “I was a little confused after the debate as to who the president endorsed,” Gohmert mocked Strange, who mentioned President Trump’s endorsement no fewer than 28 times. “I don’t know if anyone mentioned that or not.”
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