Trump fires up crowd in Billings
BILLINGS — People began to remove the word “presumptive” from in front of the name of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday amid news he now has enough delegates to be his party’s candidate in the November election.
Trump, making a campaign stop in front of 7,500 people at the Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark in Billings after an earlier appearance at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and Expo in Bismarck, N.D., said a White House headed by Hillary Clinton would weaken the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right to bear arms.
“We have to win,” he said. “If not, you won’t have the Second Amendment anymore, it will be watered down,” he said.
Earlier in the day, news reports said Trump now has the 1,237 delegates he needs to garner the Republican Party’s presidential nomination.
“You want smart leadership, you want tough leadership,” he said. “We want America first.”
Trump noted that Montana has lost manufacturing jobs, partially due to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
“NAFTA wiped out vast areas of this country,” he said.
He vowed to better relationships with U.S. trading partners, except they won’t take advantage of this country anymore.
Bernie Sanders rallies on Wednesday in Missoula, Billings
The arena was a sea of Trump signs, and people came from all over Montana to see him.
Zack Harding brought his wife and teenage daughters.
He said he liked Trump because he is a pro-coal candidate.
Daughter Jade, 13, said she likes him because he is funny.
Hal Ostlend of Billings said Trump seems to be the only person running who has common sense.
“He might actually fix our problems,” he said, adding he does not think Trump has made any missteps with some of the things he has said.
“That is what has endeared him to people,” he said. “We are tired of politicians.”
The New York billionaire businessman and television personality on Wednesday received the support of Montana GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke, who told Fox News he was endorsing Trump.
“The choice is clear,” Zinke, serving his first term, tweeted later in the day. “Today I am endorsing and supporting Donald Trump for president of the United States of America.”
Breitbart News said Zinke said he is open to being Trump’s vice president or in any cabinet position if asked to serve, as well as from his current congressional seat.
“I know my name has been thrown around, and I would be honored to the duty in whatever capacity that is,” Zinke told Breibart.
His aspirations prompted a response from Denise Juneau, his Democratic opponent in the Nov. 8 election.
“Montanans are beginning to wonder if Ryan Zinke ever plans to focus on being our congressman. Clearly, the answer is no,” said Juneau, now serving as superintendent of public instruction. “Congressman Zinke has become a Washington insider who is more focused on helping special interests and boosting his own image, than representing our state.”
Zinke on Thursday told the crowd a vote for Trump would help the United States regain respect in the world.
“Our enemies no longer fear us and our allies no longer respect us,” he said. “We run the government and the government does not run the people.”
On Thursday, GOP Sen. Steve Daines also placed his support behind Trump.
“Welcome to Montana,” he wrote in a note posted on Twitter. “I look forward to calling you Mr. President, and working together to make America great again.”
Emcee Tammy Hall gave the crowd her assessment of Trump.
“Is Donald Trump nice? I don’t know,” she said. “I know his kids love him and his wife likes him and his ex-wives like him, that is amazing. But I don’t care. I wan someone who can create jobs and someone who can beat Hillary Clinton.”
Trump, trumpeting the slogan on the campaign trail to “Make America Great Again,” has accelerated on the road to the White House despite his brash, shoot-from-the-lip style that has raised eyebrows. He has succeeded in his political quest despite his views on tougher immigration laws and building a wall along the border with Mexico, past comments about women and as to whether Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam, should be considered a hero.
He again discussed immigration and the wall Thursday.
“We can’t allow people to come into this country and we don’t know who they are or where they came from,” he said, adding later, “We are going to build a wall. It’s going to be a big wall, it’s going to be a beautiful wall.”
Trump said he has also received the endorsement of border patrol agents.
He said he has gotten more votes than any other candidate in the history of the Republican Party and still have 10 states to go.
“My wife says ‘Why can’t you be nicer to people? I said it’s because I like winning,” he said.
He remains the lone Republican in the race. However, the June 7 primary ballot will also list Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Marco Rubio as their names were not removed by the ballot’s March 14 deadline.
The Treasure State, which traditionally supports Republican presidential candidates on Election Day, has 27 Republican delegates at stake in the June 7 primary election.
In the last 10 presidential elections, since 1976, Montana has gone with Republican candidates nine times. The sole exception was Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, according to the website 270 to Win.
Trump’s visit has not been the only campaign stop of note in Montana. Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders came to Missoula and Billings on May 11 and former President Bill Clinton campaigned for wife, Hillary, also a Democrat in the running for president, in Billings on May 20.