The president’s speech in Lexington on behalf of Gov. Matt Bevin continually circled back to his own grievances.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — President Donald Trump came here Monday night to rally for Kentucky’s vulnerable Republican governor, but the impeachment inquiry in Washington was foremost on his mind.
In a rambling speech lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes, the president railed against his political rivals, ramping up the invective. Democrats are “trying to tear our country apart,” he told a raucous crowd, “trying to nullify the ballots” of the 63 million Americans who voted for him in the 2016 election.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Trump’s onetime rival for the Republican nomination who has become a close ally, angrily defended the president from the stage. Addressing the genesis of the impeachment investigation, which centers on a pressure campaign involving Ukraine, Paul said, “We also now know the identity of the whistleblower,” and he urged the media to out the individual and Congress to issue a subpoena, despite the legal protections guaranteed to government whistleblowers.