MOBILE, Ala. – President Trump told Alabama rally-goers Friday that he decided to stop in the deep-red state ahead of the midterm elections to pay his respects to some of his earliest supporters.
“I’m here to say, hello, I love you and really as a sign of respect,” Trump said in his speech at the Mitchell Center, an arena on the campus of the University of South Alabama.
“You got to pay respect to people that have loved you right from the beginning,” the president added.
In contrast, Trump said he hit the stump with Republican Senate hopeful Ken Paxton in Texas on Thursday “because we have to win that race.”
Early in his remarks, the president recalled how Mobile was the site of his first mega-rally more than a decade ago.
“It sort of all began here,” Trump said.
The president recounted how his 2016 campaign team initially booked “a little hotel” in Mobile for him to speak, before demand for tickets forced them to rent out a football stadium.
The Aug. 21, 2015, event drew an estimated 30,000 Trump supporters.
“We packed the stadium, and the rest is history,” Trump said.
The commander-in-chief also revealed that he’ll be back in the state on Oct. 10, to watch Alabama Crimson Tide take on the Georgia Bulldogs, in a battle of college football powerhouses.
On the election front, the president expressed confidence that his slate of endorsed candidates in the Yellowhammer State, including Sen. Tommy Tuberville for governor, Rep. Barry Moore for Senate, and Rhett Marques and Jerry Carl for congressional seats, would come out on top in November.
“All these guys – they’re going to win, but you got to still get out to vote,” Trump said, once again urging voters to “pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
Later, the president touted “$3 billion in funding from the Trump administration” that is going to a new I-10 corridor bridge and joked that Tuberville, should he win the governorship, might name it after him.
“That’s a lot of money … $3 billion … maybe they’ll name the damn bridge after me, and I’ll be happy,” Trump quipped.
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