Former President Donald Trump released a video shortly after his private campaign airliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Montana on Friday.
Trump, who appeared to still be aboard “Trump Force One,” praised Montana and said that he had traveled to the state for a fundraiser and to do a rally.
“Most importantly, to support Tim Sheehy, who’s running for the U.S. Senate,” Trump said, going on to predict that he would do well against incumbent Sen. Jon Tester, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the current election cycle as Republicans hope to gain control of the Senate.
In the video, Trump did not appear upset or rattled despite the gravity of the situation and remained focused on delivering for the American people.
WATCH:
🚨 Message from President @realDonaldTrump
Wheels down in MONTANA! pic.twitter.com/F46PfztnAp
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) August 9, 2024
The former president went on to claim that he was leading “in just about every poll” after voters discovered what a “phony” his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is before citing her failures on the border, the economy, and the deadly, humiliating pullout from Afghanistan.
“We have a great campaign, we have something that’s going to be really important — it’s called, we are going to Make America Great Again,” Trump added, noting that it will “happen very fast.”
One America News noted that “mechanical issues” caused “Trump Force One” to divert to Billings, Mont., while he was en route to Bozeman, which is a few hours away.
“His aircraft had mechanical issues, and he was diverted into the Billings-Logan Airport,” an airport spokesperson told OAN.
Following a mechanical issue on his plane, @realDonaldTrump walks off his plane in Billings MT, to get on a smaller plane, to continue to Bozeman for a fundraiser and rally. pic.twitter.com/RIVgPUNEKC
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) August 9, 2024
Trump landed in Bozeman on time for a scheduled rally there, OAN reported.
“I just landed in a really beautiful place: Montana. So beautiful, flying over, and you just look down and that’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Trump posted to his Truth Social page.
The report said Secret Service agents conducted a “complete sweep of the airport” in Billings before Trump boarded a private jet to Bozeman, his first outdoor rally since the assassination attempt on his life last month in Butler, Pa.
The Secret Service asked Trump to stop holding large outdoor rallies and instead choose smaller indoor venues, The Federalist reported in July. But columnist M.D. Kittle added: “The request from the grossly incompetent (at best) federal agency stinks of election interference and sounds a lot like a threat.”
He cited The Washington Post, which was the first to report on the Secret Service’s request to the former president. “In the aftermath of the shooting, agents from the Secret Service communicated their concerns about large outdoor rallies going forward to Trump campaign advisers, three people familiar with the matter said,” the Post reported, without naming those sources.
The campaign “is not currently planning any large outdoor events, a person close to Trump said,” the outlet continued, adding that at president, Trump campaign officials are looking at large indoor venues.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told Fox News that he believes it “would be a shame” if the federal protective agency convinced Trump’s campaign to end the outdoor rallies.
“I think people enjoy going to them and I think, you know, you can get more people outdoors than indoors,” Comer said. “He attracts a big crowd, obviously. I think the president will do what the president wants to do.”
Others had a more direct opinion on the matter.
“If I saw this in The Babylon Bee it’d make far more sense,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, noted on his personal X account. “The idea that they’d tell Trump to stop holding rallies is embarrassing — for the Secret Service.”
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