Trump mocks Sen. Tester’s weight, hints at a Montana campaign appearance
Trump mocks Sen. Tester’s weight, hints at a Montana campaign appearance
Former president Donald Trump mocked Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s weight at a fundraiser Saturday night in Palm Beach, Fla., comparing the Democrat’s appearance to that of a pregnant woman, according to a recording of the event obtained by The Washington Post.
The remarks came at a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser for Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-Tex.), Trump’s former White House doctor, who has had a long-running feud with Tester. Trump suggested he may take time off the presidential campaign trail this year to campaign in Montana against Tester.
“He’s now in a tough campaign, and he could very well lose. We ought to go up and campaign against him,” Trump said at the event about the Montana senator. “In fact, I looked at him and I said, ‘Oh, this finally works for a man or woman, because he looks pregnant to me.’”
As the crowd laughed, Trump continued, miming with his hands as he went. “Have you seen this guy? He doesn’t look like a fat guy, except his stomach is out to here,” the former president said. “Not that I talk about things like that. I don’t even notice them.’”
Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita said in a statement that there was not much interesting about Trump comparing Tester to a pregnant woman. “Well, according to the left, men can. So where is the controversy?” LaCivita said.
Tester is running for reelection in the most contested seat in the nation this year. He is expected to face off against Republican businessman Tim Sheehy, whom Trump has endorsed, in a state where Trump is expected to easily win the presidential race.
Jackson withdrew his nomination to be secretary of veterans affairs in 2018 after Tester, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, alleged misconduct by Jackson in office. An investigation by the Defense Department Inspector General later substantiated multiple allegations against Jackson, including bullying behavior toward subordinates and misuse of alcohol on presidential trips.
Trump at the time was incensed by Tester’s attacks on his nominee, at one point calling on Tester to resign from the Senate. “Not fair, Tester,” Trump had tweeted.
Trump campaigned in Montana against Tester’s reelection that year. Tester won reelection by nearly four percentage points.
Tester’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
“I thank President Trump for reminding the audience how critical this election is and to vote out two-faced, Far Left candidates like Jon Tester,” Jackson said in a statement.
Trump is not the first Republican campaigning for Tester’s defeat who has mocked the senior senator’s weight in recent weeks. At a dinner in Missoula, Mont., last month, Alex Bruesewitz, a political consultant and self-described social media troll who has met with Trump, joked that Big Sandy, the name of Tester’s hometown, was his “drag name.”
“If Jon Tester really wanted to secure the border, he could go just stand at the border. He would cover 85 percent of it,” Bruesewitz said.