Trump Rally Recap: Team Takedown of the Tester Persona

On Friday, August 9, President Trump held a rally in Bozeman with one central mission–to make sure Jon Tester is not re-elected to the United States Senate. 

In a state President Trump has won by 20 points in the past, Senator Tester’s chances of winning are reliant on convincing Trump voters to split their ticket and vote Democrat for U.S. Senate. It’s apparent that Tester understands this mission, having recently taken out a two-page ad in a local newspaper to highlight certain Republican supporters, and has so far chosen not to endorse Vice President Harris for president.

The tag team of Republicans included Montana GOP Chair Don Kaltschmidt, former U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, Montana Auditor and candidate for U.S. House of Representatives Troy Downing, U.S. Representative of Montana’s 1st Congressional District Ryan Zinke, U.S. Senator Steve Daines, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, candidate for U.S. Senate Tim Sheehy, U.S. Representative from Texas Ronny Jackson, and former President Trump.

The Attorney General combo of Matt Whitaker and Austin Knudsen attacked Harris and Walz as the “ticket of lawlessness.” They cited Harris’s support for cashless bail, her fundraising to bail out violent criminals, and Walz’s refusal to call in the National Guard during the Minneapolis riots of 2020. Knudsen then shifted his focus to Tester, saying “the closer it gets to election day, the more Jon Tester pretends to be a Republican,” adding that Tester voted to approve every single one of President Biden’s federal judge appointees, while voting against all of Trump’s SCOTUS picks.

Auditor Troy Downing argued that we need an administration that embodies the idea of peace through strength. He praised President Trump for not starting any new wars while also slamming Biden and Harris for botching the withdrawal from Afghanistan and their poor recruiting numbers. He closed by calling Jon Tester “California’s 3rd Senator” and urging Montanans to “send in the SEALs”, referring to Sheehy and Zinke.

Rep. Zinke made the importance of this race palpable, saying “we are in a battle.” He argued that this is the most important election in our country’s history, and that Montana will decide the fate of the country.

Senator Daines opened by welcoming everyone to “Jon Tester’s retirement party” and repeatedly tied Tester to Kamala Harris and the current presidential administration. Tester, who was Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee back in 2015, oversaw candidate recruitment. To that end, Tester flew to San Francisco to recruit Kamala Harris to run for the U.S. Senate. Harris, who served in the Senate then from 2017 until becoming Vice President in 2021, has the second most liberal voting record of any senator this century, second only to the Elizabeth Warren. Not only did Tester beg Kamala to run for federal office, but he continued to support her as Vice President. In just one term, Harris has broken more ties in the U.S. Senate than any Vice President in American history with 33. In all 33 of those votes, Jon Tester voted with Kamala Harris. Daines also ripped Tester for having an F grade from the NRA and voting to impeach President Trump twice. He ripped Harris for wanting to ban fracking and abolish ICE. He quipped that under V.P. Harris, “the most expensive vehicle” that a Montanan can drive now is “their grocery cart.”

Governor Gianforte continued the attack on Tester’s relationship to Harris. He called the current administration “weak and failed,” citing the fast-rising costs of homes, gas, groceries, and childcare. He emphasized Harris’s role as the “border czar”, as at least 10 million, but likely more, illegal aliens have crossed the border since Biden and Harris took office. In opposition to Jon Tester’s self-framing as a “third-generation dirt farmer”, Gianforte called him out for being a career politician. Tester has been in the U.S. Senate for 18 years and public office for 25 years.

Senate candidate Tim Sheehy pointed out the fact that Tester has accepted more lobbying dollars than any other candidate in this election cycle. He also argued for the credibility of his own candidacy. Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and Montana business owner, decided to run after the current administration ran a botched withdrawal of Afghanistan in which 13 American servicemen and women were killed and tens of billions of dollars in equipment was seized by the Taliban, including tanks, helicopters, anti-aircraft guns, artillery, and more. As a result of the withdrawal, the Taliban once again control Afghanistan. Sheehy joined the U.S. Navy after 9/11 and had helped topple the original Taliban governance of Afghanistan as a SEAL. Sheehy, who recently stepped down as CEO of his company Bridger Aerospace, still flies waterbombers across the American West, citing his love of service to the country.

President Trump was the last to speak. He called Tester a “radical left lunatic” who was “no friend of mine” and ripped into Tester’s relationship to Harris. He said that Harris was “dumb,” citing her refusal to do any unscripted media appearances and only agreeing to one of the three debates that he had agreed to. Trump then brought out Texan Representative Ronny Jackson, a retired rear-Admiral who served as Physician to the President for Obama and Trump. Jackson had been nominated by Trump to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, but Jon Tester, ranking member of the Senate VA Committee at the time, shot it down. Jackson made sure his feelings were known, calling Tester a “swamp-hippopotamus.” Trump also brought up Tim Sheehy to briefly speak again, who praised Trump’s foreign policy and ripped the failed Afghanistan withdrawal of the current administration. Trump flexed his record on illegal immigration, the economy, and foreign policy.

While Tester has aimed to cultivate an image of non-establishment bipartisanship this election cycle, the tandem of Republicans at the rally tore down every facet of his persona. They blamed him for recruiting Kamala, the second most liberal Senator since the turn of the century, called him out for accepting the most lobbying money of any Senate candidate this cycle, and pointed out that he voted with the current administration 95% of the time.