Former President Donald Trump launched a highly personal attack on Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff on Saturday during a campaign rally in Coachella, California, calling out names and mocking the Democratic Senate candidate’s appearance.
The comments followed a long riff in which Trump defended his admiration for Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he called an “excellent” leader who rules “with an iron fist.”
“The worst kind of people are the enemies from within, the scumbags like Adam Schiff, the cranky guy who’s about to be elected to the U.S. Senate,” Trump said.
The former president suggested without evidence that Schiff would win because of voter fraud and called the California Democrat “the worst life,” a “sick puppy” and “one of the most unattractive people I’ve ever seen.” is.
Schiff dismissed the comments in a social media post.
“Yet another pointless tirade against me, filled with tired insults and lies about voting places, this time in my home state of California,” he wrote in a post to X. Why are you so obsessed with me? ”
Background: The animosity between the former president and the California Democrat dates back to the early days of Trump’s presidency. Schiff has been one of the former president’s most vocal critics in Congress and served as the House impeachment manager during Trump’s first trial.
Schiff, who represents a Los Angeles County congressional district, is running to fill out the remainder of late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s term and a six-year term in the Senate. He is running against former baseball star Steve Garvey (Republican).
Schiff is heavily favored to win based on polls, fundraising and the state’s voting history. Republicans haven’t won a statewide victory in California since 2006.
But California’s blue voting habits did not prevent Trump from campaigning in the state. The former president avoided campaigning in battleground states and held events in Democratic strongholds such as Colorado, where he held a rally on Friday, and California’s Coachella Valley. Trump is also scheduled to campaign in New York later this month.
