Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. (Bill Roth / DNA)
Former President Donald Trump spoke for 90 minutes at a rally in Anchorage on Saturday to support Republican candidate in the U.S. House of Representatives Sarah Palin and U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.
“I’m here for two reasons: to support great candidates and to keep my promise in Alaska,” Trump said, referring to his vote to campaign against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted in favor of Alaska. he.
Trump took the stage around 4:30 p.m., remarking on what a special place Alaska is: “For years I’ve heard there’s no more beautiful place and I agree,” then launched attacks against Murkowski, who is campaigning for re-election.
He called Murkowski challenger Kelly Tshibaka “wonderful” and former Governor Palin “legendary.” Murkowski called it “worse than a RINO” – Only Republican in name.
Trump also praised Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is running for re-election, and called him “great.” But Dunleavy did not attend and did not meet with Trump during his brief visit to Alaska, a Dunleavy spokesman said. Trump has said he will support Dunleavy as long as Dunleavy does not support Murkowski.
In his lengthy statements, Trump praised recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings, including one that overturned the abortion protections guaranteed in Roe v. the 2020 election and repeatedly targeted Murkowski, who broke with his party on several occasions to go against Trump.
Trump also targeted Alaska’s other U.S. senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, to support Murkowski’s re-election campaign. The former president also criticized the by-election vote, which was passed by Alaska voters in a 2020 vote and is being implemented for the first time this year in the upcoming race for the U.S. House.
The crowd in front of the Alaskan Airlines Center stage in Anchorage hopes to hear the speakers during a Trump rally in support of Republican candidates for office on Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Bill Roth / DNA)
Attendees at the rally began queuing early Saturday. Music, food trucks, and vendors selling Trump merchandise gave the event an air of festival rather than political demonstration, and several attendees said they had come to see Trump instead of supporting candidates. ‘Alaska.
Jerry Gamez and his wife Christina, a retired Anchorage couple, paid $ 250 each to skip the queue and secure their seats in the crowd. Solddna’s 18-year-old Eddie Erickson and Ty Saylor said they drove together to Anchorage Friday night so they could queue up at 5 a.m. Saturday morning.
When Trump took the stage, almost all the seats at the Alaska Airlines Center were full. The capacity of the arena is 5,000 people.
The rally brought together prominent Republican state lawmakers, including minority leader Cathy Tilton of Wasilla and representatives Kevin McCabe of Big Lake and Sarah Vance of Homer, along with local officials such as Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. and Anchorage Public Library Deputy Director Judy Norton Eledge. .
“It’s almost emotional to see people come together,” Bronson said in an interview before Trump spoke, adding that “he would like to see Donald Trump as president.”
“His policies were the best policies for this country and this state that I have seen in my life,” Bronson said. “I know it irritates a lot of people, but it’s okay, that’s its nature. In Alaska, we were booming under Donald Trump, and I can’t understand why anyone would oppose his efforts, especially here in Alaska.
Bronson said he supports Tshibaka “wholeheartedly,” but in the race for the U.S. House, he said “there is no advantage” in participating in the race, which includes Conservative Republican Nick Begich in the next to Palin, backed by Trump.
The gates opened at 11 a.m., but a row of people waiting to enter the arena were still surrounding the building when Anchorage’s capital director, Uluao “Junior” Aumavae, went leading the crowd on the Pledge of Allegiance shortly before 2 p.m.
People continued to enter the building as Palin and Tshibaka took the stage. Both candidates wasted no time in detonating their opponents.
“I know the good guys club and too many RINOs are part of it,” Palin said, referring to so-called Republicans only by name. He then called on his opponent in the U.S. House of Representatives, Nick Begich, who has said he voted for former Democratic Anchorage mayoral candidate Ethan Berkowitz in 2015. Begich has said he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020.
Democrat Mary Peltola is also voting for the special election to occupy the House seat, along with others running in the August general election primaries.
Palin commanded loud applause from the crowd, who chanted “drill, baby, drill!” – the phrase repeated by Palin on Saturday dating back to 2008, when Palin was running for vice president. But among the Alaska GOP, there is no consensus on Palin. Anchorage Conservative Mayor Dave Bronson and state minority leader Tilton declined to say whether they would vote for Palin, though they said they would support Tshibaka.
Sarah Palin and Donald Trump share the stage during a rally on July 9, 2022 at the Alaska Airlines Center. (Bill Roth / DNA)
Palin embraced her identity as a party outsider, establishing a connection between her experience and that of Trump and his supporters.
“They have mocked and ridiculed us and falsely accused us and told us to sit down and shut up,” he said. “The things you’ve heard about me are lies. I’m much worse than you’ve heard.”
Tshibaka, the former Dunleavy-appointed commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration, spent her 10 minutes on stage making a comparison between herself and incumbent Murkowski. Trump vowed to campaign against Murkowski after she was one of seven Republicans in the U.S. Senate who voted in favor of a removal after the January 6, 2021 events.
“This Senate seat is often the casting vote that can affect the rest of the nation,” Tshibaka said. Murkowski is known for her willingness to reverse the party line on key issues such as access to abortion, judicial candidates and arms control.
“It’s time for a change,” Tshibaka repeated over and over.
Murkowski was scheduled to meet with Kenai and Soldotna voters on Saturday. Begich held several campaign events in Anchorage on Saturday, spokesman Truman Reed said.
“It is unfortunate that Lisa Murkowski’s political opponents continue to try to deceive the people of Alaska by distorting her strong and proven track record of doing work in the Senate,” Murkowski’s campaign spokeswoman Shea Siegert said in a statement. “Lisa has a proven track record of leaving politics aside and delivering to Alaska.”
Both Palin and Tshibaka have repeated denied claims about the results of the 2020 presidential election and supported Trump despite growing evidence that Trump knew his supporters were armed during the Jan. 6 violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and they wanted to join them in the Capitol. .
In pre-demonstration interviews, many in attendance dismissed evidence that emerged in recent weeks indicating that Trump knew his supporters were armed before the Capitol attack. Several also repeated false claims questioning the validity of the 2020 elections.
Before Palin and Tshibaka could take the stage, Mike Lindell, a pillow company executive and a prominent Trump supporter, addressed the crowd. He made the false claim that 20,000 votes were “stolen” from Trump in Alaska in the 2020 election. Trump won Alaska by a margin of 36,000 votes, but lost the national general election.
“Trump 2024” T-shirts and recognizable “Make America Great Again” red hats were ubiquitous at the rally. A hit playlist kept the mood upbeat, though audience members waited for hours for Trump to take the stage.
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