President Trump took multiple jabs at Sen. Jon Tester at a rally Thursday in his home state of Montana, where the president told voters the Democratic incumbent “doesn’t share your values” and has opposed his administration’s agenda at every turn.
“A vote for Jon Tester is a vote for Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and the new leader of the Democratic party, Maxine Waters,” Trump told the crowd, listing off a handful of legislative items Tester has voted against in the Senate, including last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and a bill to repeal Obamacare.
“You deserve a senator who doesn’t just talk like he’s from Montana. You deserve a senator who votes like he’s from Montana,” he said.
[Related: Democrat Jon Tester welcomes Trump to Montana in newspaper ad touting accomplishments]
Tester is facing a re-election challenge from Montana rancher Matt Rosendale, a former Republican state legislator and steadfast supporter of the president. Trump carried Montana by 20 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election and the state is seen as having one of the more competitive Senate races this fall.
Just minutes before Rosendale was invited onstage Thursday night, Trump’s eldest son Don Jr. warmed up the crowd by tearing into his Democratic opponent. The president’s eldest son, a big game hunter, accused Tester of purchasing a hunting license strictly for political gain.
“You know, he went 15 years without a hunting license,” Trump Jr. told the crowd. “That’s why we call him two-faced Tester. You can’t show up in a blaze of orange after 15 years without a hunting license and pretend that you’re a hunter.”
Both the president and his son also criticized Tester’s ‘no’ vote on Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court last spring and his alliance with Democrats on issues like immigration.
“Jon Tester voted against Neil Gorsuch, the incredible justice who supports fully our Constitution,” the president said.
“I see him say all these nice things about me, but he never votes with me,” he added.
Tester first drew Trump’s ire earlier this year, after he revealed the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on which he serves as a ranking member, had received several allegations of misconduct against then-Veterans Affairs nominee Ronny Jackson.
“He showed his true colors with his shameful, dishonest attacks on a great man, a great friend of mine, Navy Adm. Ronny Jackson,” Trump said. “Secret Service wrote a report that what [Tester] said was so false, so untrue.”
