Trump at Pensacola rally: Go vote for Roy Moore

Jim Little | Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump: 'Get out and vote for Roy Moore' President Trump on Friday urged voters to elect a Republican Senate candidate in Alabama who has been dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct, warning that America "cannot afford" to have a Democrat win the hard-fought campaign instead. (Dec. 8)

PENSACOLA, Fla. — President Trump gave a message to Alabama voters who made the trip to Pensacola for his Friday night rally: Go out and vote for Roy Moore.

It was Trump's fourth visit to Pensacola in two years and his first since being elected.

Thousands of people filled the 12,000-seat Pensacola Bay Center on Friday night for Trump's "Make America Great Again" rally and hundreds were left waiting in line to get in as the doors were closed.

Trump's visit to Pensacola was just four days before the Alabama special election to replace now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Polls in the usually safe Republican state have shown a tight race between Republican candidate Roy Moore and Democratic candidate Doug Jones, after four women accused Moore of making sexual advances toward them while they were teenagers and Moore was in his 30s.

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Trump waited to endorse Moore until Monday, and many were speculating that his trip to Pensacola was meant to help Moore, but Trump made no mention of Moore until almost 45 minutes into his speech.

Trump asked the crowd how many of them were from Alabama — to loud cheers — after shouts from a member of the crowd of "We want Moore."

"The future of this country cannot afford to lose a seat in the very, very close United States Senate," Trump said. "We can't afford it, folks. We can't. We can't afford to have a liberal Democrat who is completely controlled by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. We can't."

The crowd booed at the mention of the congressional Democratic leaders and as Trump continued to list off all the reasons he didn't want another Democrat in the U.S. Senate.

"We want jobs, jobs, jobs," Trump said. "So, get out and vote for Roy Moore."

Trump pointed to the Panhandle's overwhelming support for him as key to winning Florida and ultimately the election.

"Right here on the Emerald Coast, right?" Trump said, pausing for crowd reassurance. "The Emerald Coast in the great state of Florida where we had a tremendous victory, didn't we."

Trump recalled hearing he was ahead in the results from Florida on Election Night, and he asked if the results from the Pensacola area had come in yet. He said he was told no by his staff.

"I said, 'Guess what, we just won that election,' " Trump said to thunderous applause.

Trump also garnered loud cheers with a mention of the Blue Angels, the Navy flight demonstration team based in Pensacola. But the loudest cheers of the night came when Trump called for the end of the Johnson Amendment, a federal law that allows for churches to lose their tax-exempt status if they engage in political activity.

"We've stopped the governments attacks on our Judeo-Christian values," Trump said. “America doesn't worship government — we worship God."

In his speech, Trump bounced from topic to topic, from the war on terror to the war on Christmas.

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He only spoke for a few minutes on each topic for the more than 1-hour-and-15-minute speech, spending the longest amount of time of the performance of the economy since he took office.

"We have factories pouring back into our country," Trump said. "I used to tell you it's going to happen. You see now there's consequences when companies close up their factories, move to another country, make a product and sell it right back. They have consequences now, and by the way, those consequences are getting very steep."

Trump brought up his foreign policy and the fact he was wanting to pull out of trade agreements from the North American Free Trade Agreement to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal in Asia to other agreements with the United Nations.

Trump said it's better to negotiate one-on-one with other countries.

"My job isn't to be president of the world," Trump said. "My job is to be president of the United States of America."

Trump ended his speech saying he became president for the forgotten man and no future politician could ignore his supporters in future elections.

"You will never be ignored again," Trump said. "They'll be coming after you for every election from now on in this country. You will never be ignored again. Your dreams are my dreams, your hopes are my hopes, and your future is what I'm fighting for every day."

Several attendees said they came away from the speech enthusiastic about the future.

“It was very informative,” said John Williams of Milton. “I’m just looking forward to what he’s going to do with taxes and the wall and immigration, basically everything he talked about in there.”

Heather Adams of Gulf Breeze said, as a small business owner, she was very appreciative of Trump’s focus on lowering taxes. She added she was also thankful that Trump was willing to make the trip to Pensacola to address the people’s concerns directly.

“Usually, you have to go to Washington to see them,” she said of most politicians.

Sarah Todd traveled from Navarre to see the president, saying she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the president in person. She came away impressed with his frankness and his willingness to put America first.

“It was my first political rally ever, and I don’t think I could have picked a better one,” Todd said.

Contributing: Kevin Robinson