President Donald Trump on Wednesday appeared to play drill sergeant when he mockingly rushed Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) onto the rally stage at an event in Arizona where the Republican lawmaker is fighting a bitter battle for her imperiled seat.
After going through the motions of saying she was “respected by everybody” and “great,” Trump rushed a breathless McSally to the stage in Goodyear, Arizona for truncated remarks.
“Martha, come up just fast. Fast. Fast. Come on. Quick. You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don’t want to hear this, Martha. Come on, Martha. Let’s go. Quick, quick, quick, quick. Come on. Let’s go,” Trump said.
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 28, 2020
McSally spoke for a little over a minute, saying she was “proud” to work with President Trump — after dodging a question about whether or not she was proud of supporting him during a debate against Democratic challenger Mark Kelly earlier this month.
“I’m proud to be fighting for Arizona every single day,” she said at the time.
When pressed on the issue after the moderator suggested that it sounded like “she is proud of her support for President Trump,” McSally again demurred, saying,“I’m proud to be fighting for Arizonans here.”
In a flip-flopping move, the embattled lawmaker penned an op-ed reasserting her support for the President Trump’s reelection which was published by Fox News hours before she appeared alongside Trump at the rally in her state on Wednesday.
Yet polling shows a deepening distaste for Trump in Arizona and McSally’s apparent wavering Trump pride appears to reflect a growing fear that many conservative-minded voters may not support a Senate candidate who backs Trump this year.
Three other GOP lawmakers were also passed the mic at the Goodyear rally — Sens. Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA). Among them, only McCarthy is running for re-election in November, but all three of the lawmakers were permitted more time to speak than McSally, NBC News noted.
Yet it would seem she needs the air time — polling in Arizona has repeatedly shown McSally trailing her Democratic opponent.
During an earlier trip to Arizona last week, Trump told reporters that he and McSally were “very separated, but we support each other fully.”
