Trump in New Hampshire tries to 'shake up' Dems on primary eve
Some supporters lined up in the cold rain a day ahead for Monday's rally.
An emboldened President Donald Trump delivered a blistering speech in New Hampshire Monday night, using the recent Iowa caucus chaos as a cudgel against 2020 Democrats hours before voting opened for the state's primary.
"The Democrat party wants to run your health care, but they can't even run a caucus in Iowa,” Trump railed at the event in Manchester where supporters had lined up around the block, some even overnight in the rain. Trump's goal was to "shake up" Democrats hours before Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary.
The president's rally at the SNHU Arena -- the same venue where he held a rally on the eve of winning the 2016 Republican New Hampshire primary -- was part of the Trump campaign's larger effort to disrupt the Democrats as they head to the polls to pick their nominee.
Speaking for just under an hour, Trump delivered a faster-than-normal paced speech—but made time to issue attacks on his favorite targets including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrats, and President Barack Obama, who Trump called to be impeached.
Trump specifically called out Pelosi over her reaction to his State of the Union last week—leading to the crowd to chanting “lock her up.”
“On Tuesday I delivered my address on the State of the Union [cheers] And I had somebody behind me who was mumbling terribly, mumbling [boos] Mumbling, wow. Wow, ho, ha. She was mumbling. Very distracting, very distracting.”
Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, "that was the biggest political Rally in New Hampshire History,"
Rally-goers explained why they support the president so strongly.
"I've never supported a president in my whole entire life like I have with this one, because I think it's making a difference," said Paul Laskowski, who got in line at 7 a.m. Monday.
Kathy Roy, who got in line at 6 a.m., told ABC News that she "can't believe how many people are out here in the rain," but added that she came out with a group of people because Trump "is doing a good job and that's why I want to be out here and show our support for him."
Trump's counter programming strategy in New Hampshire includes blanketing the state with top surrogates -- including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Trump Victory Finance Committee chair Kimberly Guilfoyle -- and hosting a string of events including a primary watch party and volunteer trainings.