He went on, warning of “moral condemnation” and “destructive routine” and mob intimidation and destruction of public property. “The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,” he said. “They have to do it. They have to do it. They have got to stop. Bring people together.”

His opening was so out of character that he commented on it himself. “By the way, do you see how nice I am being tonight?” he said. “Have you ever seen this? We are all behaving very well. Hopefully, we can keep it that way, right?”

He was six and a half minutes in. It was just three minutes later, after he first mentioned immigration—the evening’s recurring theme—that comity vanished as he warned ominously of the immigrant caravan in Latin America slowly heading toward the U.S. border. “Wait until you see what happens over the next couple of weeks. You are going to see a very secure border,” the president said, leveling a threat. “You just watch. Very secure. The military is ready. They are all set.”

The crowd began chanting, “USA! USA! USA!” And then the attacks resumed, unsupported by fact. “The Democrats believe in ‘catch and release,’” he said. “They strongly support sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement, and release known gang members, predators, criminal aliens into our communities … The Democrats even oppose legislation to increase the penalty for criminals and drug dealers who repeatedly break into our country and hurt and seriously injure, and even worse, our people.”

If Trump’s purpose for coming to Wisconsin was helping to elect Walker and Leah Vukmir, the clear underdog against Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, he was at his most effective as the rally progressed and he explained how Wisconsin dairy farmers, incensed by Canadian tariffs, had led him to the eventual renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. “Now, as you know, the Canadian market, which was not open, is now open,” he said. “Go do well.”

Walker, wearing a Green Bay Packers jacket, was his own best spokesman. He joined Trump at the podium about halfway through the event and hit all the right notes for the crowd, beginning with “eight straight months of record-low unemployment.”

He thanked Trump for helping bring Foxconn, an Apple component maker, and 15,000 manufacturing jobs to the state. He thanked the president for “making dairy great again in America, and it starts in Wisconsin.” And he said the average family of four in Wisconsin received $2,508 from the Republican tax cut. “That is real money,” he said. “That is not crumbs.”

Trump and Walker also framed themselves as champions of health care. Who could have imagined after Trump and the Republican Congress passed their massive tax-cut package last year that it would be eclipsed as a selling point in the midterms by Obamacare, or at least its provision that prohibits insurance companies from denying health insurance to those with preexisting conditions?