Donald Trump has given commendations to a lawmaker who called Hillary Clinton ‘a piece of garbage’ and said she should be ‘shot for treason’.
The US President was speaking in front of hundreds at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire on Thursday when he acknowledged the dedication of state representative Al Baldasaro.
He said Mr Baldasaro, who had been diagnosed with cancer, made it to ‘every rally I ever gave in New Hampshire’.
‘Right from the beginning. I got so tired of looking at him; he’d always be here,’ Trump said.
Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally in Manchester on August 15, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Trump 2020 campaign is looking to flip the battleground state of New Hampshire with the use of a strong economy and appeals to his core voters on immigration and guns
In 2016 Al Baldasaro said: ‘Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason’. He’s a staunch support of the Trump administration
The former marine had acted as an informal adviser on veteran affairs during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
That year he appeared on a Boston radio show and sparked controversy as he accused Ms Clinton of ‘betraying her country’ in the events preceding and following the 2012 terror attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
‘This whole thing disgusts me,’ he said. ‘Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.’
A US ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants attacked a diplomatic compound in September 2012. It later emerged, the state department, led at the time by Hillary Clinton had refused requests to implement additional security at the compound.
Mr Baldasaro, a retired US Marine first sergeant, continued to berate Ms Clinton’s actions as secretary of state.
‘Hillary Clinton to me is the Jane Fonda of the Vietnam. She is a disgrace for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi. She dropped the ball on over 400 emails requesting back up security. Something’s wrong there.’
Ms Clinton, had during her time as secretary of state, also been criticized after an examination of her server found over 100 emails containing classified information, including a number deemed secret and top secret on a private server.
Mr Baldasaro said exposing national secrets on her private email server was another qualifier for the death penalty.
‘As far as I’m concerned, it is treason and the penalty for treason is the firing squad ― or maybe it’s the electric chair now.’
Despite the criticism he drew, Mr Baldasaro stood by his comments saying freedom of speech gave him the liberty to air his opinion.
In 2016 the then-Democratic presidential nominee former secretary of state Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally in Pittsburg. She had previously faced scrutiny over the fact she’d held a hundred emails, many of which contained classified information, on a private server
As a former first lady, Clinton has U.S. Secret Service protection for life, and following Mr Baldasaro’s comments it confirmed it would ‘conduct the appropriate investigation’.
At the time, Trump’s office said while it did not stand by the comments made by the veteran, his support remained welcome.
And, as was evidenced in Trump’s address on Thursday, and the Southern New Hampshire University, Mr Baldasaro remained a welcome supporter of his administration.
As well as thanking him for his unwavering loyalty, the president added that Mr Baldasaro’s apparent recovery and successful treatment for cancer were a testament to recent changes to the Veterans Choice Program.
The program, created in 2014 under former President Barack Obama’s administration, was created to enable veterans to access government-funded private-health care if they would otherwise face lengthy travel and/or wait times.
In June, last year Trump signed a law that reformed and consolidated the program into a single Veterans Community Care Program.
Trump spoke out in support of Al Baldasaro who in 2016 said Ms Clinton was ‘garbage’ and should be ‘shot for treason’
At the rally, on Thursday, which drew hundreds of supporters, Trump revved up the crowds with his own attacks on his Democratic rivals for the presidency.
He lashed out at his opponents, calling Elizabeth Warren, ‘Pocahontas,’ and calling former vice president Joe Biden, ‘sleepy’.
‘What about a Sleepy Joe Biden rally? Right? Boy, he’s made some beauties. I sort of hope it’s him. I don’t mind any of them. You got Pocahontas, who’s rising. You’ve got Kamala. Kamala is falling. You got Beto. Beto is like gone,’ he said, whirling his finger in the air to signal that O’Rourke, who’s called him a white supremacist, is unhinged.
New Hampshire, where the rally was held, is regarded by Trump and his advisers as another battleground state in the 2020 general election.
While Ms Clinton won New Hampshire in 2016 the president is clearly making a play to turn it red in the next election and seeking to establish his support with the state’s Republican voters.
However, his polling numbers in New Hampshire would indicate that the president will have an uphill climb winning the state in 2020.
He lost to Ms Clinton by about 2,700 votes in 2016, and the state has shown over the years that it’s no pushover for either party.
An August University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll found that 42 per cent of New Hampshire adults approve of Trump while 53 per cent disapprove. The poll also showed that 49 per cent approve of Trump’s handling of the economy and 44 per cent disapprove.
New Hampshire’s four Electoral College votes are far below those of key swing states like Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan, but its influence can prove powerful in close election years.
New Hampshire is doing well economically, at least when using broad measures. But beneath the top-line data are clear signs that the prosperity is being unevenly shared, and when the tumult of the Trump presidency is added to the mix, the state’s flinty voters may not be receptive to his appeals.