The campaign rallies now make sense. They are the only way Trump can save his Political Ass.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/ ... ort-791278Politico reporter
”By the time Trump climbed the steps to the plane, the rain had slowed but the rumors had picked up. He gave a thumbs up as we shouted questions.
The presidency seemed on some sort of brink. But I was trapped on a plane with a silent president, no phone and no Wi-Fi.
At the airport in Charleston, W.Va., the president finally stopped to chat with his traveling press.
“I must tell you that Paul Manafort is a good man,” he said. The appearance lasted less than two minutes.
We hopped into the motorcade and transcribed our tapes.
I was determined to get some reaction from Trump supporters at the campaign rally. From the confines of the press pen, I cast my hook, with a smile and wave, toward a couple guys in suits. They didn’t bite.
But here was Trump, finally, walking up to the podium. In the few hours since he’d left Washington, his former campaign manager had become a felon, his onetime fixer had implicated him in an election-related crime and yet another staunch political ally was facing criminal charges.
“U.S.A.!” the crowd chanted.
A fellow reporter wondered aloud if Trump would pardon Manafort on live TV. The president talked about the gross domestic product.
Finally, at 7:50 p.m., Trump turned to the news of the day. My adrenaline kicked in.
“Where’s the collusion? We want to find the collusion!,” Trump thundered. The crowd went nuts.
But it was over in less than a minute. Trump had already changed the subject.
“The beating heart of this election is border security,” he said. “We have to have it.”
Trump talked about North Korea and Elton John. The crowd turned to boo at us again. The president talked about real estate and NATO.
“What’s going on?” another reporter asked. I had no idea.
It was 8:08 p.m. I couldn’t concentrate. The president talked about his mom. “She made the greatest turkey you ever had.”
Wait – he was talking about Chevys again. In Beijing, a Chevrolet Camaro costs $119,000, he said.
It was 8:13 p.m. and by now a lot of people were sitting down. A guy in a blue blazer thumbed through his phone, oblivious to Trump’s applause lines.
You’re the elite,” Trump said. “You’re the super elite!”
“I have a lot more money than they do. I have a much better education than they have. I’m smarter than they are. I have many, much more beautiful homes than they do. I have a better apartment at the top of Fifth Avenue. Why the hell are they the elite? Tell me. Because you're the elite, just remember that. You're the elite. They're not the elite.”
The crowd cheered. Trump talked about carpenters and coal miners and ministers and metal workers. The crowd cheered some more.
