TOLEDO, Ohio — President Donald Trump used his first campaign election rally of 2020 to argue that he served up “American justice" by ordering a drone strike to take out Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, while jeering Democratic leaders for questioning his decision to carry out the attack without first consulting Congress.
Trump mocked Pelosi's mental acuity and called Schiff a “pencil neck." He also tagged Sen. Bernie Sanders as “Crazy Bernie” for raising objections to how he carried out the strike on Soleimani. Vice President Mike Pence, who joined Trump for the rally, said the president deserved credit for taking out a “dangerous terrorist" while managing to keep the engagement from escalating into an all-out war.
No Americans were killed in the Baghdad assault. The protesters managed only to breach the edge of the sprawling embassy complex.Trump also turned to a topic that frequently rankles him: the fact that he has never won a Nobel Prize. Referencing the 2019 Nobel Prize winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Trump said that he himself deserved the honor instead.
Trump enters the election year flush with more than $100 million in campaign cash, a low unemployment rate, and an unsettled Democratic presidential field. Yet, polling shows he remains vulnerable.