President Donald Trump repeatedly slammed Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester on Thursday in a campaign-style rally for his Republican challenger, State Auditor Matt Rosendale, telling voters to "get your a– out to vote."
"I need to you get your friends, colleagues and neighbors and get your a– out to vote," Trump told the crowd in the Four Seasons Arena at Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls. "We need Matt Rosendale in the Senate to continue our fight to drain the swamp.
"We need to work every day from now until the election," the president said. "For your family, for your community, your country, for your Constitution."
Trump almost immediately lashed into Tester, the two-term Democrat, who he blamed for derailing the April nomination of Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Jackson, 51, who served as White House physician to Trump and two immediate predecessors, withdrew amid allegations from a report released by Tester of alcoholism on the job, improperly prescribing and dispensing medications, and creating a "toxic" work environment.
Tester, the ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, is among 10 Democrats running in states Trump won in 2016.
He beat Democrat Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 points.
Tester took out full-page newspaper ads welcoming Trump to Montana on Thursday.
"I see John Tester saying nice things about me," Trump said of the ads. "I said: 'Yeah, but he never votes for me. He never votes.'
"I'd rather have him say bad about me but vote for me, right?
"John Tester showed his true colors with his shameful, dishonest attacks on a great man, a friend of mine," he added, referring to Jackson.
"They wrote a report that what he said was so false and so untrue. Never happened.
"You know, I feel guilty," Trump confessed. "I feel guilty. Admiral Jackson was getting ready to leave service — and he served many years admirably. Never a blemish."
President Trump said he asked Jackson to head the embattled Veterans Administration, the nation's second-largest bureaucracy, and he reluctantly agreed to the nomination.
"It wasn't what he had in mind," Trump said. "I put him in the world of politics.
"How vicious is the world of politics.
"But John Tester said things about him that were horrible and that were not true."
He also noted Tester voted against Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who joined the bench in April, and teased Monday's announcement on his nominee to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.
"You'll be extremely happy with this selection — and they're all great," Trump said.
"I want to thank Justice Kennedy for his lifetime of truly distinguished service — and he had confidence in me.
"John Tester voted against Neil Gorsuch," the president said. "This incredible justice who supports fully our Constitution.
"That's a hard one to vote against. Tester opposed many of our amazing judges."
Trump also railed against other Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a possible challenger in 2020, and California Rep. Maxine Waters, who has called for the president's impeachment since last year.
"I said it the other day: 'Yes, she is a low-IQ individual.' Maxine Waters.
"Honestly, she is in the mid-60s," Trump said. "I believe that.
"'He will be impeached! I will impeach him,'" he continued, mocking Waters, who was first elected to the House in 1990.
"Even the Democrats are saying, 'How are you saying that?'" Trump said. "They don't want to use that word, because it gets the Republicans out to vote.
"They say stay away from that word, especially since he's done nothing wrong."
Trump also blasted the Russia investigation as "ruse" before returning to his attacks on Tester.
"It's time to retire liberal Democrat John Tester," the president told the cheering crowd. "You're going to get on your side a real Montana fighter.
"He will fight for you," he said of Rosendale.
"John Tester says one thing when he's in Montana.
"But I will tell you — I'm a testament to it — he does the exact opposite when he goes to Washington."
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