BOZEMAN — Thousands of people filled the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman on Friday night for a campaign rally with former President Donald Trump.
Trump came to Montana in support of Republican candidates – particularly Tim Sheehy, running in the nationally watched race for U.S. Senate. His speech started out focusing primarily on his presidential campaign, but there were heated moments in the second half as he turned his attention to the Senate race and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester.
Trump arrived on stage around 9:30 p.m., about 90 minutes after he was initially scheduled to speak. His plane landed in Billings, after a reported mechanical issue, and he reportedly flew from there to the West Yellowstone area before a motorcade drove him to Bozeman.
“I was all over your state today,” Trump said. “Everything's two hours: ‘When are we going to be there?’ ‘Two hours, sir, two hours.’ I’ve got to like Tim Sheehy a lot to be here.”
Trump said in a video on social media that he was also attending fundraising events while in Montana.
During his speech, Trump touched on a number of subjects he’s frequently brought up in the past, including advocating against illegal immigration, concerns about crime, his belief that the U.S. has lost respect in the world, and his opposition to policies on transgender athletes. Early on, he spent much of the time making the case that Vice President Kamala Harris was “dangerously liberal” and that she also bore responsibility for the policies of the Biden administration.
“We’d better get four more years,” Trump said, in response to a chant from the audience. “We’re not going to have a country left if we don’t get four more years.”
Friday’s rally was the first Trump held since Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. He criticized Walz for his handling of protests in Minneapolis in 2020 and for progressive legislation he signed as governor.
“I’m not talking about him, I’m talking about her – this is her ideology, that’s why she picked him,” he said.
Trump then addressed Tester, who he said was misrepresenting himself as a moderate and as a supporter of some of Trump’s priorities on issues like border security.
“He comes out, everyone's saying, ‘He really likes your policy a lot,’” he said. “He doesn’t like – he's a radical left lunatic, just like Kamala.”
Trump also made more personal comments, including several references to Tester’s weight.
“I don't speak badly about somebody's physical disability, but he's got the biggest stomach I have ever seen,” he said.
Trump then brought onto the stage U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, the former White House doctor who he nominated to run the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 2018. Jackson withdrew his nomination as senators – including Tester, the top Democrat on a supervising committee – probed allegations of improper professional conduct against him. Analysts have suggested Trump’s displeasure with Tester’s handling of the nomination is one of the reasons he held four campaign rallies in Montana during Tester’s last reelection race in 2018.
On Friday, Jackson claimed the allegations were false and from disgruntled employees, and said he had waited six years for another opportunity to campaign against Tester.
“We're going to bring Tim Sheehy to the Senate to replace the swamp hippopotamus, Jon Tester,” he said.
A federal inspector general’s report found there was evidence to support a number of the accusations raised against Jackson, though Jackson criticized the conclusions.
In response to Trump’s rally, Tester’s campaign released a statement.
“Jon Tester is proud of the work that he did with President Trump to deliver for Montana’s veterans, crack down on waste and fraud in the federal government, and help secure the southern border,” said spokesperson Harry Child. “Jon’s strong record is why earlier this week, Montana Republicans from across the state – from elected officials to business owners to Trump voters – endorsed Jon in his campaign for Senate.”
While they didn’t respond directly to the comments about Tester’s weight, they did post a link on the social media platform X Saturday, selling T-shirts reading “Big Sky Country is Big Guy Country.”
At one point during his speech Friday, Trump pointed out Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Sid Daoud in the audience and seemed to hint he might drop out of the race and endorse Sheehy.
“A lot of us are libertarian, and I think he's going to be giving you a very nice surprise very soon,” he said.
Daoud told MTN he had made no decision to drop out. He said Republican leaders had invited him to the rally, and that he had spoken to Sheehy and Trump at the event. He wouldn’t close the door to having further discussions about his candidacy, but said he would want to see concrete progress from Sheehy on Libertarian priorities like opposition to foreign military intervention and concerns about federal debt.
In two of Tester’s Senate elections, Libertarians have received more votes than the margin of victory. In 2018, Libertarian candidate Rick Breckenridge did drop out a few days before the election to endorse Republican Matt Rosendale. Tester did receive a majority of votes in that race.
Sheehy told MTN Friday that, in light of the presidential election going on, he wasn't expecting Trump to make another campaign trip to Montana this year – though he said he would welcome him back if he did return.
