Trump mocks impeachment at campaign rally in Pa.

In Hershey, president brags about his record, blasts Dems

• Emily Previti/PA Post
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  Emily is a reporter for WITF who’s been covering voting and elections since July 2019 as part of her former role with statehouse accountability news organization PA Post. She was the senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads. Previously, she covered city hall for PennLive/The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), was a watchdog and city hall reporter at The Press of Atlantic City and reported for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
  
  See other articles by Emily Previti for WITF.

 Matt Smith for WITF/PA Post

President Donald Trump speaks during a 2020 campaign rally Dec. 10, 2019, at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Matt Smith for WITF/PA Post

President Donald Trump speaks during a 2020 campaign rally Dec. 10, 2019, at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (Matt Smith for PA Post)

TUESDAY was a down, then up, day for President Trump. In the morning, House Democrats detailed the two articles of impeachment they believe should result in Trump’s removal. An hour later, the same Democrats said they had agreed to back a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact sought by the White House.

With that bad and good news in hand, the president flew to central Pa. late in the day to speak at a campaign rally in Hershey.

Trump gave quite the speech. You can read PA Post’s recap, (with lots of great photos!), or watch it all online.

But here’s how some local and national media described the president’s remarks and the overall scene:

• PennLive: Amid a sea of red MAGA hats, T-shirts emblazoned with “God, guns and Trump” and the echoing chants of “USA USA” and “Four more years,” Trump supporters were there to show their approval – and push back against the narrative that the president is trailing in the polls and deficient in job approval.

• Politico: The president “continued to portray the day’s articles of impeachment as merely the latest development in the long ‘witch hunt’ Democrats have subjected him to since taking office in 2017. It was all, Trump said to the boisterous crowd, a ploy to ‘erase your votes, nullify the election and overthrow our democracy.’”

• The New York Times: In Hershey, Mr. Trump tailored his message to Pennsylvanians by trumpeting the local labor market. But he also sharpened a darker narrative, sharing grisly stories of rape, murder and other crimes he said were committed by undocumented immigrants in Pennsylvania.

• The Philadelphia Inquirer: During his speech, Trump also attacked Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. The blast came just days after John McNesby, president of Philadelphia’s police union, met with the president at the White House to condemn prosecutors such as Krasner, who have won office across the country pledging to make the criminal justice system less punitive. “You have the worst district attorney,” Trump said, referencing Philadelphia, about 100 miles east. “I’ve been hearing about this guy, he lets killers out almost immediately…. You better get yourself a new prosecutor.”

• USA Today: Republicans said the president’s support remains strong in the region and the campaign has long argued the Democratic impeachment drive will help fire up voters. Polls have showed the nation is largely divided about impeachment. Lawrence Tabas, chairman of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, said that jobs remain at the forefront of voters’ minds, not impeachment. “He’s got a record on the economy,” Tabas said. The economy is growing so quickly in portions of Central Pennsylvania, Tabas said, “it’s almost too late to invest in some of these counties.”

• The Washington Post: A Republican in frequent touch with the White House said Trump allies remain especially concerned about Biden’s ability to perform well in Pennsylvania, if he is the Democratic nominee. This person added that Trump himself still talks frequently about Biden, commenting on the former vice president’s every slip-up and gaffe. And indeed, Trump specifically turned his attention to Biden twice during the rally, reprising a long-favored nickname — “Sleepy Joe” — and mocking the former vice president.

• PennLive: President Donald Trump’s campaign staff is confident – indeed, almost cocky – about the incumbent Republican’s prospects for another win in Pennsylvania in 2020, and in their world, articles of impeachment voted by the Democrat-led U.S. House of Representatives might even help the cause.

• Morning Call: It’s far from the last that Pennsylvania voters will be seeing of Trump and his campaign over the next year. The state is critical to whether he gets another term in the White House. To succeed again, Trump not only will need to replicate the overwhelming turnout he saw in deep-red, rural areas, but expand that support at a time when suburban voters have been drifting away from Republican candidates.

• See also this CNN fact check of some of Trump’s claims, and this LNP video of protesters outside rally.

Best of the rest

Ariel Worthy / WESA

Vice President Mike Pence speaking to supporters at a Beaver County, Pa., VFW hall on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019. (Ariel Worthy / WESA)

• Before crossing the state by bus to join his boss in Hershey, Vice President Pence was in Beaver County, touting the Trump administration’s strong support for the military and veterans. At VFW Post 128 in Rochester, the Beaver County Times reported: “The overriding theme for the day, however, was patriotism and the unyielding strength of the American military that, Pence said, was crumbling under the Obama administration before Trump arrived to save it.” WESA also covered Pence’s visit; later, the VP made a surprise visit to the Summit Diner in Somerset.

• While President Trump and Vice President Pence were bragging about the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade pact, Pennsylvania’s junior senator was criticizing it.  GOP Sen. Pat Toomey “lambasted the deal on Tuesday as a potential drag on the economy and a capitulation to Democratic labor demands, becoming by far its most outspoken GOP opponent,” Politico reports.

• Kennett Townships’s longtime manager is accused of embezzling $3 million from taxpayers. Lisa Moore, in office about a decade, was arrested yesterday on felony theft, forgery and other charges. Philly Voice has the details on how Moore allegedly more than doubled her already-six-figures salary and transferred public funds to her own accounts to buy luxury goods.

• Berks County District Attorney John Adams is asking for the public’s help tracking down drug dealers behind a recent rash of overdoses. Three of the 12 people who overdosed in Berks last weekend later died. WITF’s Rachel McDevitt has more here.

• Bill Cosby will remain in prison for the time being after three-judge rejected his appeal attempt yesterday. Cosby, 82, is serving a three-to-10-year sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting one of the six women who testified against him last year. More than 60 women have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct. NPR’s Bill Chappell covered this latest story.