and me, and sean moves back to his old time spot starting monday, 9:00 p.m. eastern. see you tomorrow night. have a great night. ♪ . >> tucker: this is a fox news alert. just moments from knew president trump will be speaking in huntsville alabama. he has traveled there tonight to rally support for luther strange, he is the sitting senator from the state and he's facing a hotly contested republican senate primary runoff next week. good evening. welcome to it can tonight. peter ducey is with the president. peter, what's going on? >> peter, right this second there's a build that wall chant going on. within the last two minutes or so they came out and put the presidential seal on the podium. that means president trump and his motor indicated are here at the von braun at reason arena

in. huntsville. president trump has done this before. the opponents have calls been democrats. tonight he is going to come and tell alabama slvolters as you c see luther strange being announced, to vote for strange over another republican. but it's pitting the president against some of his most loyal supporters, because people like sara palin, steve banon, louie gohmert are all saying that even if you really like president trump and you live in alabama you shouldn't listen to him nick because they think that luther strange is too close to mitch mcconnell, and that if you really want to see somebody make america great again, then you have to vote for the person that the president did not endorse, senator roy -- judge roy moore, i should say, it's getting a little loud in here. roy is known as the ten

commandments judge. he was removed from the state supreme court because he defied an order to get rid of the ten chant wants statue. he has support even though senator strange is running on a platform of being with president trump 100% of the time. senator strange laughs at the charges that he's a part of the swamp becausesn he's only lived there since february which is less time than p president trum. so far at this event, when strange's name has been mentioned there has beens applause, but when president trump's name has been mentioned, there has been very, very loud thunderous at is applause. that goes to show the impact that this presidential visit could have in a very, very tight runoff. it really could go either way right now, depending on turn out, according to go both campaigns. last night moore had an advantage, big head liner was sara palin, a few hundred turned out.

tonight in this building with 10,000 capacity, it seems to be completely full and it doesn't look like anybody else is coming in. a big night for luther strange who waser appointed to fill jef sessions's seat when he went to become the u.s. attorney general. now hasff a chance for a six ye term if president trump can get him across the finish line, tucker. >> tucker: peter ducey live for us in huntsville. lisa boothe writes for the washington examiner, scott bold en is the former chair of the democratic party and they both join us live tonight. lisa, first to you, pretty unusual for a sitting president to take sides in his own parties's primary. what's the thinking do you think? >> it is a little unusual particularly with the dynamic of ben car son breaking from the president on this.am i see the race labeled as trump versus trump land and that's

accurate. a lot of people who were totally behind him that are in the camp of roy moore where president trump has endorsed luther strange. i think the most important thing for the president to do tonight for senator strange is to say, look, luther strange isn't with mitch mcconnell, he's with me. because roy moore's attacks against luther strange labeling him as the establishment, too cozy with mcconnell are too strong in a red state like alabama. i think that's the best thing that president trump could do for his backed candidate, senator luther strange. >> tucker:ck it's all very interesting. so scott, this is not a move, if you believe the democrat's description of donald trump that you anticipate donald trump would have made. how do you explain this? >> well i think that it's part of trump's try partisanship, if you will, there is a civil war going on, on the gop on the hill. i've got to tell you, former

chair of the dc head of the party, be it local, state or federal, jumping into a primary race, pitting represents against represents almost never happens, there's a lot of political risks for donald trump here. he's got to support strange which is kind of strange, forgive the pun, it's kind of strange because if you listen to the politics of judge moore, and you look at the numbers, he's got about 40%. if donald trump was being consistent with trump land then he certainly would be he be doorsing moore, but he hasn't. it's going to be interesting not onlyt. tonight but whether moor wins or strange wins but a couple things about that, tucker. [ laughter ] >> tucker: i'm sorry to cut you offensively sa, i think the president unexpect saidly has walked on. he's about ten minutes early. >> tucker, we will can't see. >> they don't want to hear me.

they want to hear the president. >> tucker: president trump has walked on stage, again not according to schedule. there he is embracing senator strange. and he is assuming the position. and so we're going to assume that his address is gonna begin in just a minute. we're told that he may, in fact he's likely to say something about the news on healthcare today,ik unfortunately we have placard in t front of our camer. gent or john mccain coming out against a bill sponsored in part by his friend lindsey graham. the president apparently and not surprisingly will speak on that tonight. and you canan just guess what hs gonna say. lisa in the moments before the president does speak, any idea why he's come so strongly -- there he is, we're going to go to the president of the united states inre huntsville alabama. >> president trump: wow!

thank you, thank you. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: thank you everybody. i love this place. you know we set every record in alabama. i love alabama. it's special. thank you very much. [ crowd chanting usa ] it specia. [ crowd chanting usa ] thank you very much. [crowd chanting "usa"] [ crowd chanting usa ]. >> president trump: well i am thrilled to be here, with the really great person that i've gotten to know, luther strange, with a hard working patriotic of this great state. you have some football games tomorrow but we're gonna have a lot of fun, and then you're gonna winb in football tomorrow. i love this state and i love the people of this state. they've been so good to me. and we are producing. we are really producing. roducin. we are really producing.

[ cheers ] >> president trump: thank you. thank you. [ cheers ] thank you. . >> president trump: on tuesday we're going to send a real fighter and a real good guy from alabama to the united states senate on a permanent basis. [ cheers ] >> president trump: we have another great person in our audience tonight, richard shelby. where is richard? where is he? [ cheers ] >> president trump: richard. where is richard? thank you richard. stand up so they can see you, richard. fantastic, thank you richard. respected man, i will tell you. he's respected and loved in the senate. he's only been there for, what, 34 years or something like that right? but he loves the people of alabama, too. and like all of you, luther strange knows the true source of

america's strength, it's god, it's family and it's country. . it's god. it's a family and its country and l and luther is going to be taking over for a man that you all love, what's his name? huh? senator jeff sessions. you love jeff sessions! [ cheers ] . >> president trump: he's doing a good job. e above jeff sessions. he's doing a good job. he is doing a good job. he is doing a we have him very busy watching the borders. a lot of things are happening. but luther is taking over for jeff, hopefully. andr you are going to be so impressed with what we're going to do in washington. but before we begin i want to send our thoughts and prayers to the people oft texas and louisiana and florida and georgia and puerto rico and the virgin islands and all of the other communities that have

recently been ravaged by storms and by floods. and i called the other day, i spoke to your governor.ed i said how you doing? sheow said, well, we have about7 million people that just a ented alabama, a shelter. and the you took such great care of those people, you really did. i said you know governor you're the fastest growing state anywhere in the world this week. but it was -- you really did, you did a great job. and your governor is doing a great job, too, by the way. when one part of america hurts, we all hurt. we grief over all that's been lost but we're also inspired by the incredible strength and spirit and resilience of our people. together we will recover, rebuild and return bigger, better, stronger than ever before.

it's going to happen, it's gonna happen quickly. quickly. better. right? [ cheers ]'soo . >> president trump: we also send our prayers to the people of mexico. they got hit hard by a devastating earthquake. taken a lot of lives, a lot more than they even thought. i've spoken with the president of mexico. we pledged our total support. we have crews in there right now lifting up that heavy concrete. it's a rough sight. it's a rough sight. we've got a lot of people we the sent down with a lot of big equipment. but it's a tough go. it's a tough thing to look at and see the sadness. that was bad. i've just come from a very produc jtive week at the united nation's general assembly.

[ cheers ] [ cheers ] [ crowd chanting usa ] [ crowd chanting usa ] [ crowd chanting usa ]. >> president trump: where we've been working with our friends and allies to pursue a future of prosperity and security and peace. we've got some really good people that at this know and have tremendous relationships. we have some really, really bad people. we're gonna take care of the bad people. it's about time. we're gonna take care of the bad people. it's about time. we are going to take care of the bad it's one of the greatest honors of my lifehe to represent the american people on that world stage. and i will tell you, the world is starting to respect the united states again!

[ cheers ] . . >> president trump: as i said during my address to the united nations, i will always defend america's interests above all else. i'm heree for you. i'm not here for global interests. we're not here for the rest of the globe. and we want to treat the rest of the globe right. you know when i say america first, everyone was saying, gee, they never liked it from the standpoint that if you're in another country you want your country to be first by the leader. nobody understood. fory years they said america first, although i'm the one that really means it, there's a big difference. [ cheers ] >> president trump: and i said, i said look it's going to be america first. we're going to renegotiate these trade deals, we're bringing a lot of people back, we're re bringing companies back. you see it in alabama. you see it in alabama.

but i'm not gonna worry so much about other countries, i want to treat them with respect, i want to treat them good. i want their people to fight for them, just like i'm gonna fight. but we're gonna be like your football teams, we're gonna win all the time, we're gonna win. [ cheers ] . [cheers and applause] . >> president trump: i believe the best path to a more peaceful world are proud, independent and sovereign nations that serve and respect their own people, when you look at what's going on in the world you have so many where they don't respect their people. but we want nations that cooperate together to create better for all people. that's what we're all about, all

people. and we can't have mad men out there shooting rockets all over the place. [crowd noise] [cheers and applause] . >> president trump: and by the way, rocket man should have been handled a long time ago! [ cheers ] . >> president trump: he should have been handled a long time ago by clinton. i want mention the republicans, right, but by obama. why did this, you know, this is a different time. this should have been handled eight years ago and four years ago. and the honestly, 15 years ago, and 20 years ago and 25 years ago. this shouldn't be handled now, but i'm gonna handle it, because we have to handle it.

[ cheers ] . dl it. little rocket man. we're gonna do it because we really have no choice. we really have no choice. now he's talking about a massive weapon exploding over the ocean, pacific ocean, which causes tremendous, tremendous calamity, where that plume goes, so goes cancer, so goes tremendous problems. and i want to tell you something, and i'm sure he's listening because he watches every word, and i guarantee you one thing, he's watching us like hes never watched anybody befor, that i can tell you. that i can tell you. [ cheers ] . every word. alta guarantee you one thing, he is watching us like he never watched anybody before. that i can tell you. and that i c maybean tell you. some out, and maybe it doesn't. personally, i'm not sure that it

will. other people like to say, oh, we want peace. you know they've been saying for now 25 years, we want peace, we want peace, and then he goes and just keeps going, going, going, well maybe something gets worked out, and maybe it doesn't. but i can tell you one thing, you are protected. okay? you are protected. nobody is gonna mess with our people. nobody is gonna play games -- nobody is gonna put our people in that kind of danger. nobody. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: and japan, and south korea are right up there with us. and by the way, many other countries, many, many other countries. they're right up there with us. and i have to tell you, i made a friend in china, president xi and yesterday he basically took the banking industry away from north korea. [ cheers ]

. >> president trump: never been done before. ndustry away from north korea. never been done before -- never been done. the banking industry away from north korea. that's's based on relationship. relationship is very good. but we're dealing with somebody that we'll figure out. he may be smart, he may be strategic and he may be totally crazy. but you know what? noe matter what he is, we're gonna handle it folks, believe me, we're gonna handle it. [ cheers ] . me. we are going to handle it. . >> president trump: the foundation for progress begins at home with a government that protects and defends our citizens. that's what we have to do. that is why i'm here tonight to ask the good people of alabama to send luther strange to the united states senate so he can defend your interests, fight for your values and always put america first. go out and get out the vote.

[ cheers ] . a first. go out and get out the vote. . >> president trump: but i'm gonna tell you, i'll just tell you this quick crazy story. so why do i like luther? i have a lot of friends, some of them called, do you mind if i go for the other candidate? some of them are working for me and that's fine, of course they may not have a job on monday, right richard? we may have to get rid of a few of them, i've already gotten rid of a few of them. but, no, they're good people. i'll tell you what happened. the first go around on healthcare, i said for seven years we've been hearing repeal and replace obamacare, for seven years i've been hearing repeal and replace. so i'm very much involved. you know they like to say, well you know mr. trump, president trump sat in the oval office, i'm on the phone screaming at people all day long for weeks. they gave me a list of ten

people that were absolute nos. these are ten republican senators. now john mccain's list boos. boos. >> president trump: john mccain was not on the list so that was a totally unexpected thing, terrible. honestly, terrible. repeal and replace, because john mccain, you look at his campaign, his last campaign was all about repeal and replace, repeal and replace. campaign was all about repeal and replace so he, decided to do something different. and that's fine. and i say we still have a chance. we're gonna do it eventually, we're gonna do it eventually. with luther and everybody, we're gonna do it. but i have to tell you this story because we're here tonight for luther strange. i'm sort of for two, i'm here for luther and i'm actually here, it's a friday night, i really do love the people of alabama because you've treated me so good. in fact, i said, i don't want to

speak negatively, i said, though, if i lose this election, maybe i'll end up moving to alabama or kentucky, or like some states. nice to go where people love you and where you love them because it's special. so here's what happened. here's what happened. but we never want to lose, right? despite that we don't want to lose. we have a a great agenda. by the way we're doing a lot of work, we're getting a lot of things done. they hate to admit it. including we have a supreme court justice, judge gorsuch who will save -- how about a thing called your second amendment, right? remember that? [ cheers ] . >> president trump: if crooked hillary got elected you would not have a second amendment, believe me, you would be handing in your rifles, you would be saying here, here you go. you would go like -- you would be turning over your rifles.

[ crowd chanting lock her up ] [ crowd chanting lock her up ]. >> president trump: you've got to speak to jeff sessions about that. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: so, here's what happened with luther. so luther, i get this list, ten names of people that are absolute total nos, and there were good people, a lot of them. by the way, in all fairness, rand paul was on that list, they said don't even waste your time calling him. he voted twice yes. okay? he was very good. and i haven't given up on him. because i think he may come around. okay? wouldn't it it be ironic if he took john mccain's place? and they definitely do not like

each other. wouldn't that d be ironic? that would be very ironic for those of you that know the inner workings of the senate. so with luther, so i have a list. one of the names is luther strange. and i know he's the senator from alabama. but i don't believe him. i met him once. i said that is the tallest human being i've ever seen. i'm tall, he's tall, earned be like on the new york nicks. that's why i call him big luther. everyone is now calling him big luther t i call up the different people. well mr. president could you have dinner with my wife, myself, my family, my kids, my cousins, my uncles and i would like to talk to you about it? okay. so they come over, the family, pictures all night, everything. okay. and i'll get a vote or i won't. whatever. but brought tal, brutal, brutal, you know what that is, folks, right? it's called brutality.

i call another one, i say senator we need your vote, i know you're opposed to it. well you know i think i can get there but you have to do me a favor, you have to see my brother and his yowife, they lo you and they want to have dinner with you, they want to have breakfast with you andkf lunch. and after you finish with them, how about we'll go out for a picnic some place on the white house lawn? and then afterni that, maybe wel start talking about t i say oh my gosh, it was brutal. you have no idea. okay, now i call luther strange. i say, i've got to call this guy. and he's a no, right? your say, senator, i need help. i said i've got to get your vote on healthcare. he says you've got it. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: i said what do you mean i have it?

because i've just been hammered by all of these people. what do you mean i have it? he said, sir, i was for you right from the beginning. i knew you were gonna win. i knew you were gonna win the whole thing. i've always been for you. my family's always been for you. honestly, mr. president, if you want my vote, you have it. i said do i have to come and meet you some place? do i have to have dinner with your family? i think his wife by the way is fantastic, but i said do i have to have dinner with you and your wife? no, sir s. you don't have to have anything. i've supported you from the very beginning. you have the shouldn't waste any more time talking to me, mr. president you have my total support. i went home and told my wife that'snd the coolest thing that happened to me in six months. okay? it's true. true story. [ cheers ] . [ applause ] the. >> president trump: and then time it goes by. and he voted, and then of course you joe john mccain came until

and he went thumbs down at 3:00 in the morning. boos. >> president trump: everybody. everybody. i know so much, folks, i could tell you. it was sad. and we had a couple of other senators. but at least we knew where we stood. that was liket really a horribl thing. honestly, that was a horrible horrible thing that happened to the republican party. that was a horrible thing. so any way, so time goes by. and the i see luther's in a race. and he -- people are saying he's friendly, whether you like mitch mcconnell or not doesn't matter, but they're saying he's friendly with mitch, he the doesn't even know mitch mcconnell. he was just there for a few months. and they put that mantel around him. i told mitch i would like to say this, i'm telling you he doesn't know mitch mcconnell at all. luther it is a tough, tough cookie. he doesn't deal with and kowtow to anybody. so they put it around.

so all of a sudden i see he's down in the race by a lot. and i said, man that's really unfair. they were giving him a bum rap because he happened to be in the senate they were giving him a bum rap. and i remember the call, by the way the other people that i called and therm all fine, but you don't even remember, the dinners, the this, you don't even remember any of it, you remember the one sentence, sir don't even waste your time n' talking any more, you have a lot of business to do, you have my vote. this was a definite no. that's the cool left thing. i called him. he was down because of being saddled with stuff he was down by quite a bit. and i said i'm gonna endorse you. and he didn't believe it. hehe said, you would doll that? i said, yeah, i'm gonna do that. i shouldn't be doing it. the last thing i want to do is be involved in a primary, okay? i could be sitting home right now getting to watch some of the

games tomorrow, getting ready, right? but seriously the last thing i wanted to do was get -- but i'll never forget the way he did that. it was really cool. so what happened is i called him and i said you know i want to find -- first of all, how are you doing? how are you doing? and he said honestly, i'm down a little bit but i think we're gonna go. i said i think you're gonna come back, too, luther t i think you're gonna come back y and you're gonna kick everyone's ass and you're gonna do great. you're gonna do great. because he got saddled with things that he should not have gotten saddled with. so he started off here. he was in third or fourth. he went to third, second, and now it's like almost pretty even, right? and i called him up a week ago. and i said, you know, i think you're down by a few points, but i'm gonna come to alabama and

i'm gonna make a peach for you on friday. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: such a true story. and as soon as we announced, you know you look at this arena, you know the media, the fake news, i call it. boos. >> president trump: the worst. fake news. they won't show this. you know they'll say donald trump spoke before a small crowd in alabama last night. it was a small crowd. very unenthusiastic crowd. it was a terrible evening. now these are the most, among the most dishonest people, i really mean it. these are among the most dishonest. for instance, look at the crowd, i would love to have them show the crowd. but they don't show the crowd, had they show me, i go home and i

say melania, by the way she's bam very popular, hasn't she? she's become very popular. man, i mean she respects the white house. we love the white house. they actually said about me, that i called the white house a dump. i think the white house is one of the most beautiful buildings i've ever seen and i speak of it with eleven reasons and i said that, and they wouldn't retract it. i love theus white house. my wife respects the white house greatly. when she leaves the plane, we're to texas where they have the hurricane and she leaves the plane and she's dressed appropriately for the white house and we respect the bill hemmer a lot. and she's wearing high heels like many of you do, and they went after her. she didn't know. then when she got out in the plane in texas she was wearing sneakers, which she had with her.

and they know it was dishonest but that's the way it is. they said she wore high heels, sheds she's going to go into the floods with the high heels. she has become very popular. but i have to say this, so luther did that for me, and i remembered luther. we have to be loyal in life, you know. there's something called loyalty with these folks. and the i might have made a mistake. and i'll bee honest, i might hae made a mistake. because you know here is the story, if luther doesn't win, they're not gonna say we picked up 25 points in a very short period of time, they're gonna say donald trump, the president of the united states feels unable to pull his candidate across the line. it is a terrible, terrible moment for trump. this is total embarrassment. i mean these are bad people. and by the way, both good men, both good men.

and you know what? and i told luther i have to say this, if his opponent wins, i'm gonna be here campaigning like held for him. like hell for him. but i have to say this, and you understand this, and just look at the polls, luther will definitely win. [ cheers ] >> president trump: no, you know what i'm saying. roy has a very good chance of not winning in the general election. it's all about the general -- don't forget we don't stop here. you have an election coming up, the day this is over. this is over on tuesday, on wednesday morning the new race begins. you've got to beat a democrat. luther is gonna win easily. and roy is gonna have a hard time winning. but i will be backing him if he wins, i will bee backing him. okay? i'll tell you that. hat.

and just like i backed huntsville, because if you look at huntsville, billions and billions of dollars from the -- and to the army, missile defense, what you're going, how important -- by the way, by the way, how important are those words now, when you hear missile defense? thank you very much huntsville. thank you. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: missile defense. missile-defense you know when you hear those two words, last week as you saw, you know we just approved a $700 billion budget much higher than anticipated. again if the other candidate had won against me that would have gone way down. it was going way down. we're rebuilding the military at a level to which it's never been before.

we're rebuilding. been before. we are rebuildi but that would have gone way, way down. and then you look at, as an example, the new fbi facility that's being built. great. great. you look at nasa, how about nasa? billions of dollars. [ cheers ] >> president trump: richard shelby by the way has been a big help on this, i have to tell you, a big help. -- anne richard shelby has been a big help in this, i have to tell he's been a big help. but i will say this. we're spending a tremendous amount of money in alabama and you are doing great. and as long as i'm president you are gonna have so much money spend here. and you know what? lots of other states, also. we're bringing back jobs. we're bringing h back companies companies are not building in other areas, in some cases they've already started the plant and they're not, they're coming back. i'm renegotiating nafta, one of

the worst trade deals ever madem one of the worst trade deals ever made. ever made. we stopped other trade deals. we are doing a job. i'll tell you what, we have jobs and companies pouring back into this country like they haven't seen s the lowest unemployment in almost 17 years. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: the most number of years, the most number of jobs in the history of our country. now, with all of that being said, we have a lot of people that want to work. we have a lot of people that have the given up on finding jobs. those people are gonna be taken care of. that's one of the reasons that we, we as a group, that's why we won. one of the reasons. i think we won because of the military, i think we won because of the vets. i think wee won because of the evangelicals, take a look at that, right? [ cheers ] >> president trump: but i had to tell that story about luther,

because you know what? you go back and tell it, i l thought it was really cool. so i said i'll be there. and then i saw some things that i didn't like. he was down a little further than i liked. i said i'm not sure. andth i said luther, you have g what it takes, you have really got it. and let's go. that was two months ago. and you got yourself an even race. if you guys go out and vote, you're gonna win, you're gonna have a great senator. you're gonna have a great senator. he'll won't only be great be the tallest senator in the history of the united states. that's okay. that's not so bad, right? and shelby is pretty tall, too, by the way. but he is going to be great. he's tough on crime. he's tough on borders. [ cheers ] sdmrfrmths don't worry. don't even thinking about it.

and you know who i have here tonight? general john kelly, who headed up homeland security. and what a job he did on the borders. where is itgeneral? where is he? where is he? general come up here. quick. comeme here. come here. four star come mere. come, come, come, come. come. this guy. what a great man this is! no games, you know. you know the expression? there's no games being played. four star marine. there are very few. four star general. [ cheers ] . -star general. [ cheers ] [ cheers ] >> donald trump. >> president trump: he just wants to work. he's done a great job. four star marine. that's good.

but what he did on the borders, and this is without the wall. by the way, the wall is happening, folks, okay? believe me. the wall is happening. in fact, you probably saw, you know we have a wall up there now and we're renovating it already. it's being made pristine, perfect, just as good as new, we may go a little higher than that that's okay. we're building samples of the new wall. you know it has to be a see through wall. i don't know if you know this. frankly i didn't know it until about a year ago, as much as i say, if you can't have vision through it you don't know who is on the other side. let's say we build a free cast concrete wall and you have other people on the other side. it's going to stop drugs and bad things because the drug epidemic in this country is out of control, we're gonna stop it, we're gonna stop it. but they would literally, so you have a concrete wall, and that's

what i do best. that's what i do best. that's what i really do. although we've done a good job in politics, too, in all fairness, we've only been doingt it for about two years. but what i do best, i build. so you have a concrete wall and you have mexico, wonderful, wonderful place, nemexico, and u have over here the united states but you are can't see anything. so now they take 100 pounds of drugs and they throw it over th wall, they have cat at that pulse and they throw it over the wall and it hits somebody on the head, you are don't know they're there. believe it or not this stuff happens. you need to have a great wall but it has to be see through. we're now looking at samples. we have four samples that have the already been built, general, right? they've been built. we're looking at different samples of see through walls, and i think to be honest it would look better, you don't

have that, whatever it might be. but we are looking at four different samples built by four different companies, four different concepts, they're just about completed. i'm going to go out and look at them personally, gonna pick the right one. we're renovating the existing wall and we're going to have as much wall as we need. you don't need it all the way, you have 2000 walls, you have a lot of natural barriers. somebody said are you going to build the wall in the middle of the river that nobody can go in? are you gonna build that wall on the mountain? you have a mountain which is a wall. but we're gonna build the wall, it's coming along great. we're soon going to have the final choices done, and the renovations would be done i would say within the next six or seven months. we're spending a tremendous amount of the money and we're gonna have that. i just wanted to let you know where we are. i just wanted to let you know where we are. so we're very, very happy about that. and you know because every once

in awhile you hear no he doesn't want to build the wall. i say excuse me? that's the great thing about twitter, okay? [ cheers ] . >> president trump: you know, when the press is dishonest, which is most of the time, and when they say like i don't want to build the wall, i can tweet, that was a false story, boom, boom, boom. [ cheers ] . boom, boom, boom." . >> president trump: you know it's really not a question about we want to do a wall. we really have to do a wall, in order to stop the drugs, in particular. we've been dealing with ice, we've been dealing with the border patrol. first time they've ever endorsed a candidate for president. these guys know better than the architects and consultants. this country used to spend a fortune on consultants to say what to do, how do build it,

they didn't have's clue. they got outs of the harvard school of something and they would write about a wall. let me just tell you, the best guys for telling you what to do are the border patrol, ice, these are the guys that know. and you know what it costs? it costs nothing. nothing. we get it for free. and they're happy to do it. i was with them two weeks ago. they're happy to do it. it's really great. it's going to be a really important element to making america great again, like your hat. [ cheers ] . in, like you have. when it comes to reforming washington, and taking on the bureaucra bureaucracy, i'm telling you, because he's tough as hell, luther it is your man, he wants to end business as usual, stop the insider dealing, and luther strange is determined to drain that swamp. swamp.

[cheers an luther's been fighting hard for the people of alabama and for the people of the united statese since his first job in office. now i have to tell you something. he the hasn't been there very long. again he doesn't know nose people. he never met them, he doesn't know them. they can't saddle him with, he the doesn't know those people. but luther has worked so hard. i know the ones that work hard and i know the ones that don't work hard. i was talking about it with richardd before, don't worry richard i'm not going to give away the secrets, richard is a hard worker, i want to tell you that he's been working hard for 34 years. but we were talking about who were the smart ones, who are the hard working ones. we talked about who are the less smart ones, too. i learned a lot. that's a lot of knowledge. but luther shares our convictions and our vision.

and maybe most importantly he shares our agenda. remember he's gonna win the race. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: he's gonna win the race. and i'm not talking here, i'm talking against the democrat which starts very quickly. but it's why we need each and every one of you to get a friend, to go out, get a family member, get the whole family, and bring them out to vote for , big luther strange. got to vote for him. big luther. luther. luther and i and everyone in this arena tonight are unified by the same great american values. we are proud of our country. we respect our flag. luther and i and everyone in

this arena tonight are unified by the same great american values, we're proud of our country, we respect our flag. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag, to say get that son of a bitch off the field right nowb out? he's fired. he's's fired. [ cheers ] . [ cheers ] [ crowd chanting usa ] [ crowd chanting usa ] [ crowd chanting usa ]. >> president trump: you know, some owner's gonna do that. he's gonna say that guy that disrespects our flag, he's fired. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: and that owner, they don't know it, they're friends of mine, many of them, they don't know it,

they'll bear the most popular person for a week. they'll be the most pop march person in this country. because that's a total disrespect of our heritage, that's a total disrespect of everything that we stand for, okay? everything that go we stand for. and i know we have freedoms and we have freedom of choice and many, many different freedoms but you know what? it's still totally disrespect feel. when the nfl ratings are down massively, massively, the nfl ratings are down massively, now the number one reason happens to be that they lining watching -- they like what's happening. today if you hit too hard, they hit too hard, 15 yards, throw him out of the game. they had that last week, i watched it for a couple of minutes, two guys just really,

beautiful tackle, boom, 15 yards, the referee gets on television, his wife is sitting ats home, she's so proud of him they're ruining the game. right? they're ruining the game. ght? they are ruining hey look that's what they want to do. they want to the hit, okay? they want to hit. but it is hurting the game. but you know what's hurting the game more than that? when people like yourselves turn on television and you see those people taking the knee when you're playing our great national anthem. boos. >> president trump: the only thing you can do better is if you see it even if it's one player, leave the stadium, i guarantee, things will stop, things will stop. just pick up and leave. pick up and leave. he had just p. not the same game any more any way. the same game anymore anyw now one of thehe things we've de and when i say we, it's us, together, we protect religious

liberty. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: because we know that faith and family, nott government and bureaucracy are the true centers of american life. in america we don't worship government, we worship god. [cheer [ cheers ] >> president trump: right? [ cheers ] . we cherish our magnificent constitution and we believe judges must interpret the constitution as written, and that includes defending as i just said our great second amendment. [ cheers ] . amendment. . >> president trump: we support the rule of law and we stand strong with the incredible men and women of law enforcement. [ cheers ]

. >> president trump: we protect our citizens. uphold our traditions. and we will always defend our borders. [ cheers ] these are alabama values. i understand the people of alabama. i feel like i'm from alabama, frankly. cheer cheer. >> president trump: isn't it a little weird? when a guy who lives on fifth aven avenue, in the most beautiful apartment you've ever seen, comes to alabama and alabama loves that guy? [ cheers ]am . >> president trump: i mean it's crazy. it's crazy. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: crazy! [ cheers ] . >> president trump: but i do, i understand your values, i love your values. and those are the values that i believe in. those are the values that made

this country. those are the values that made this country great. those are the values. i understand those values. i understand those but as you know, these values have been under attack for many years in washington. and that's why we need a person like luther strange. we need him. you've got to get out and vote. . [ cheers ] . >> president trump: you know i think if everybody in this room gets out and votes, luther, youa win, easily. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: you've got to voechlt just get out and vote. got to get out and vote. vote. got to get out and v so luther it is not in washington to serve the special interests like a lot of people, even the way he handled that thing with me, he didn't ask me, you've got to do this and that.

what did he do? he got better. let's say he was difficult. went quid pro quo. he just treated me great. and i called him. i said do you want me to help you? he couldn't believe it. he said why? i said because you gave me the coolest answer i've had in a long time. that's why i'm here. he didn't ask me. time. that's why i'm here. he didn't ask me. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: the only mistake he made, i shouldn't say this, it was a mistake, he said sir, we have a venue that holds a thousand people, i said l luther, that's no good, a thousand people. we can do much better than that. we came up with this spot. by the way, there are thousands of people outside, they cannot

get in, we have thousands of people out front, thousands. and they may be listening, because we put some big speakers out there. and i hope they're gonna vote forr luther, they may not be to happy. but i think they will. so luther came to washington to serve you and to represent you. o and i cann tell you that when bg luther, y we call him now big luther. did people call you big luther before you met trump? you know i brand people, some people i brand as this or that, we don't have to go into it, because a lot of them are now friends of mine, so nobody ever called you bigf luther some arei think it's a great name. the guy is seven feet tall, i can never call him little luther, right? but i do, i just saw him, i said he's big luther, and that's cool. but when i walks in, everybody knows that alabama has arrived. [ cheers ] the. >> president trump: luther was a very, very advanced eagle scout

who has not spent his lifetime in politics. he only entered public life in recent years and he's been in washington for even less time than me. so he doesn't know all these people that he's supposed to know. he has his own mind. he has the mind that you want. in his short time in public office luther has proved that he's not beholden to anyone and not afraid to take on anyone and i've seen it. as your attorney general in a alabama, luther won over 25 public corruption convictions. [ cheers ] . >> president trump: and now he's brought that same political courage to washington. and i have to tell you, friends ever mine, because i havees a of friends inri alabama, and friends of mine have told me, very strongly, that if luther wasn't appointed to office for the short term, if he just said

he's gonna run, when you have to run, which is now, he would be leading every poll by 50 points, he would be killing everybody. but the fact that he got appointed hurt him. like he was thinking about not accepting that. but if luther just didn't take an appointment, if he just ran, there wouldn't even be a contest, nobody could come close to him. so it's one of those things, but i can tell you personally, because i've been dealing with him for the months that he's been there, i'm very lucky that -- and this country is very lucky that he did take that appointment, because he's done an hell of a job. and that's what we need in washington, people who have the courage to stand strong for our values, our families, our nation. people who have the courage to challenge a failed system. look, with obamacare, i've been listening for seven years as

many of these people. now richard kept voting against it, but many of these people kept saying repeal and replace, repeal and replace. then they finally have now -- nobody cared because they had a president that wasn't gonna sign it and they didn't have the senate, so it didn't matter. the didn't take much kour remark, i think they voted, what, 61 times? like 61 times to repeal and replace. they finally get a president who will sign the legislation, and they don't have the guts to vote for it. okay? they don't have the guts to vote for it. boos. >> president trump: and i was told, congratulations, you won. you won. you know why i won? because the electoral college is a very special thing. and i decided very -- i think intelligently, to campaign in the states that you have to win for the electoral college

victory that you need.yo you know it's very simple. very simple. i took a pass on a lot of states. the electoral college, and i've never been in favor of it, but now i appreciate it. no, no, i tell you what, to me winning the popular vote is easier. because you go to new york, you go to california, you go to texas, the beauty with the electoral college, i was going to maine, i was going all over, to smaller states, it brings the whole country into play, it brings certain states into play that would never really be thought of. but i focused heavily on pennsylvania and north carolina. i focused very heavily here. but i actually made one speech here and i said fellas and folks do you mind if i don't come back for awhile because we have like a 38-point lead and i would much rather spend my time in florida and pennsylvania, north carolina

and lots of other places. lina, r so alabama, you were great. i mean we won by so much. but, so the electoral college is actually something i've come to respect. but it's sort of like, if you're 100 yard dash guy or long distance runner you train differently. if you're going for the electoral college that's a much the different race, which if hillary runs again in four years, which i hope she does, we're gonna teach her to spend more time in michigan, we're gonna teach her to go to wisconsin, we're gonna teach her to spend a little more capability in pennsylvania, north carolina, and florida, which she lost and she actually spent a tremendous amount of the money. so i just want to, because you hear so much about this, remember this, if you're going for the electoral college it's a much different race.

you don't spend your time in california and new york and these different places, you spend your time in iowa and ohio, remember? you can't win unless you win ohio. well we the won ohio by a lot because i spent a lot of time up there. cause but i would rather have the popular vote count because it's, for me it would be easier thuan nguyening the electoral college, which they said a republican could not win, if you remember. remember they said, there is no way to 270. for trump. that's why i went to maine four times because i needed one. i needed one. they said there is no way. well we ended up at 306. there is no way. i guess they were right. no, no, lou they are they were right. they were 100% right. there is no way to 270. yes, but there is a way to 306. okay? so we won by a lot.

but when you hear all this nonsense, when you're a golfer and you have match play or you're a golfer and you have stroke play, different tournament you train differently, same with runners and different things, they havew to learn their lesson, they have to campaign in areas that really matter. but we had such a great victory, it was just something that was ah inspiring. and something that i think everybody in this room will never ever forget. i appreciate the fact that the people of alabama were with me right from the first day. they said to me don't come back, go to those other states that you have to work. i appreciate it. states that you have to work. i appreciate it. by the way, folks, just in case you're like curious, no, russia did not help me. okay? retu

russia. i call it the russian hoax. one of the great hoaxes. actually the thing i was thinking about, that's the thing that the democrats did best. they lost the election, and they didn't know what happened. and they needed an excuse, so they said, russia. and then they said, wait a minute. wait a minute. russia. and trump -- honestly, the thing they did best, they did a rotten job of running, but to convince people about this hoax that was probably the thing that they did best. but it is one great hoax. no, russia did not help me. that i can tell you, okay? any russians in the audience? are there any russians in the audience, please? i don't see too many russians! i didn't see too many russians in pennsylvania! i didn't see too many russians! we need people in this country who have the courage to