SUPPORTERS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Amid a rocky week of messaging for Donald Trump following a white nationalist rally that turned deadly last weekend, the president is returning to his comfort zone: the campaign rally.
The Trump campaign is set to hold a rally in Phoenix next Tuesday [8-22-17] night in what will be his first rally since clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend left one person dead and provided a seemingly unprecedented boost for white nationalists from a modern American president.
Arizona has been a focus of Trump’s ire in recent weeks. Sen. John McCain, who is currently battling brain cancer, last month helped sink a seven-year effort by Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act — a move that has drawn ire from the president as his legislative agenda has been stalled on nearly all fronts.
McCain’s colleague, Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, has also been a target of Trump after writing a book recently that painted the president as a problem for the conservative cause. Flake — a Republican who was critical of Trump throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, has been on the president’s enemies list for his constant criticism of the ‘Make America Great Again’ mantra.”
-Negassi Tesfamichael, “Trump to hold rally in Phoenix next week,” Politico, Aug. 16, 2017 09:09am