Donald Trump appeared his usual seething self when finally taking the stage in Bozeman late Friday night, where he proceeded to “fat shame” Montana Sen. Jon Tester.
Which wasn’t the most pathetic moment of the deposed emperor’s pep rally.
We’ve come to expect, after all, the daily barrage of insults and vulgarities hurled by an ex-president plagued with acute narcissism and fragile ego.
“I don’t speak badly about somebody’s physical disability,” Trump spewed this go-round, referring to Montana’s senior Democratic senator who is up again for reelection.
“But he’s got the biggest stomach I have ever seen. I swear, I swear. That’s the biggest stomach – I have never seen a stomach like that!”
Again, it wasn’t the most pathetic moment.
“Stomach brimming out like a big slob!” Trump further mocked, until introducing on stage the disgraced former military White House physician-turned-Texas Congressman Ronny Jackson, who immediately likened Tester, who controls the Pentagon’s purse strings, to a “hippopotamus.”
For the record, the Navy demoted the doctor from rear admiral to captain after a 2021 Pentagon probe found he’d engaged in “inappropriate conduct” while making his White House rounds – consuming alcohol, taking the sedative Ambien, until such time he had “disparaged, belittled, bullied, and humiliated” his subordinates.
But again, it wasn’t the most embarrassing moment of Trump’s rally.
That came when the roughly 8,000 Trump followers – men, women and children alike – who packed the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse not only tolerated, but laughed aloud at every Tester insult Trump could muster.
Can you imagine these same Montana Republicans tolerating such crass remarks directed at their children or spouses?
As if Trump’s Palm Beach, Fla., fundraiser in May wasn’t disgusting enough, when the dethroned leader reportedly said Tester “looks pregnant to me.”
If you ask me, Trump did GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy no favors on Friday night, what with the uphill battle being waged by the wealthy Minnesotan-turned-Big Sky “rancher” to unseat a highly respected (among numerous Republicans, mind you) third-generation Montana dirt farmer.
Trump probably didn’t realize it, but a sufficient number of Republican voters in Montana have crossed over in each of Tester’s three previous senatorial elections to help put the Democrat over the top, choosing the person above the party.
You can bet your bottom dollar these same Republicans, several holding statewide offices today, weren’t laughing when Trump blew into Bozeman and hit Montana’s rare native son below the belt.
That said, there was no response from the offices of Sheehy, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke – all in attendance at the rally – after I inquired whether they condoned Trump’s fat shaming.
And talk about timing, a new 2024 list of “Republicans for Tester” has just been unveiled, with 16 notable GOP co-chairs among them: Former Montana Secretary of State and gubernatorial nominee Bob Brown of Whitefish; Columbia Falls City Councilman Mike Shepard; former Montana governor and Republican National Committee chair Mark Racicot of Missoula; former Great Falls Mayor Mike Winters; past Montana GOP chair Susan Good Geise; and former state Senate Republican Chief of Staff Chuck Butler.
“I’m honored to have the support of Montana Republicans who have stood with me to fight for our veterans, protect our freedoms, and keep the government out of our personal lives,” Tester said in an accompanying statement. “Montanans didn’t send me to Washington to play politics, they sent me to deliver results—and together we’re going to win this election and keep fighting to keep Montana strong.”
John McCaslin is a longtime journalist and author. He lives in Bigfork.