Trump Uses Western Rallies to Press Political Power

Donald Trump told an Arizona crowd that “leakers should be shot” as he worked to boost Republican candidates in the final weeks of the midterm election cycle. His rallies in Arizona and Montana brought electoral power, federal force and attacks on political opponents together onstage.

Rep. Ilhan Omar said a federal search of her Washington, D.C., home was “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.” Agents searched her home Monday and seized her phone; roughly a dozen subpoenas went out in an investigation into potential immigration-related crimes, according to people familiar with it. At the Arizona rally, Trump attacked Omar, saying, “You're not the people that demand everything, like Ilhan Omar,” and calling Somalia, where she was born, a “ninth-rate” country.

The campaign machinery

Trump held his Arizona rally in Bullhead City, in Mohave County, one of the reddest parts of a swing state. He campaigned for Rep. Andy Biggs, who is seeking the governorship against incumbent Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Arizona also has several competitive House contests. The rally formed part of Trump’s midterm roadshow, as Republicans pulled back from some battleground House races and Democrats sought money for candidates who’d seemed like long shots earlier in the year.

In Kalispell, Montana, Trump backed Republican congressional candidate Aaron Flint in a close race against Democrat Sam Forstag. Montana’s Senate race features Trump-endorsed GOP nominee Kurt Alme, while Democrats are divided over whether to back their party’s nominee, Alani Bankhead, or independent candidate Seth Bodnar. Trump urged the crowd to vote Republican, warning that Democrats would take away gun rights and pack the Supreme Court. “The Second Amendment,” he said, “is under siege,” but would be “totally protected” by Republicans in Washington.

The crowds and travel had their own pecking order. Trump wrapped up his Bullhead City speech after about an hour and 40 minutes, then flew to Montana. At Majestic Valley Arena, a venue normally used for rodeos, the crowd filled the listed capacity of 7,000, and security began turning people away. Attendees, including NBC News reporters, spent hours in traffic trying to reach the parking lot. The entry line stretched through the area.

Claims, gifts and state force

Trump repeated false claims about Arizona’s 2022 election, calling it “rigged” and saying voting machines had been broken. He claimed without evidence that Republican Kari Lake had beaten Hobbs. Election officials said some machines in Maricopa County temporarily malfunctioned by not accepting ballots, rather than misreading them, and that workers fixed the issue on Election Day afternoon. Trump also repeated his false claim that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

At the Arizona rally, Trump praised a 747 given to him by the Qatari government for use as Air Force One. “When you're given gifts, you take them, right?” he asked, adding, “When they give you a 747, you say two words: thank you.” Trump said Qatar gave him the plane because he was their “friend.” The aircraft had raised concerns about its security capabilities compared with the previous plane, and Trump said over the summer that he’d send it away for upgrades.

Trump said leakers who disclose the timing of a military attack “should be dealt with very, very strongly,” calling them “the scum of the Earth.” He also said Iran could strike the U.S. West Coast, claiming that if it had a nuclear weapon “within 24 hours they would use it.” Those were Trump’s claims at the rally.

Trump’s campaign appearances also drew on celebrity and political remembrance. Boxer Floyd Mayweather appeared onstage in Arizona and praised the country and Trump; Trump said he’d made “so much money with this guy.” Trump remembered conservative activist Charlie Kirk on what would have been Kirk’s 33rd birthday and urged voters to turn out in his honor. Kirk moved Turning Point U.S.A.’s headquarters to Arizona in 2018, where he lived with Erika Kirk and their two children before he was shot and killed the previous year.

The account describes rallies built around candidates, celebrity endorsements and appeals to vote. It records no community-organized response or mutual-aid effort at either stop. Those waiting in traffic and the people turned away from the Montana arena appear in the account as an audience for the campaign, not as its decision-makers.