ENDORSEMENT/RALLY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump took a victory lap in Ohio on Friday [10-12-18], touting a ‘really historic week for America’ that began with the installation of his second Supreme Court justice and concluded with the release of an American detained in Turkey. Jocular and boastful, Trump barnstormed — in what was a barn on a rural fairgrounds — for Ohio’s gubernatorial and congressional candidates, but, as he often does, spent much of the hour-plus speech touting his own track record. He zeroed in on the past week, which many White House aides believe was one of the most successful of his presidency. Trump drew loud cheers from the crowd for securing the release of pastor Andrew Brunson, swaggering that ‘we bring a lot of people back.’ After Brunson was sentenced to three years in a Turkish prison on terror charges, Turkey’s government quickly freed him to return to the U.S. Trump dwelt at length on the trials of Brett Kavanaugh, who was seated on the Supreme Court this week after a contentious confirmation process that featured multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, which he denied, and bitter partisan battles. But Trump argued that the bruising process, which ignited a soul-searching national conversation about sexual assault, was ‘a tremendous service’ for his party.”
-The Associated Press, “At Ohio Rally, Trump Touts ‘Historic Week for America’,” The New York Times online, October 12, 2018