[van id=”politics/2018/07/05/scott-pruitt-epa-administrator-resignation-nr-ganim-sot-vpx.cnn”]
By Dan Merica
CNN
President Donald Trump is set to speak in Montana on Thursday evening to tout the state’s slate of Republican candidates ahead of November’s elections.
The speech comes hours after Trump announced on Twitter that he had accepted the resignation of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, an embattled member of his Cabinet who had been plagued by a near-constant stream of controversy and scandal.
The trip, one of many the President has taken to stump for Republicans across the country this year, will position him squarely against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, the vulnerable incumbent who is running against Republican Matt Rosendale. Trump is set to tout Rosendale as the best candidate to carry on his brand of conservatism, while Tester has been trying for months to advertise his own work with a President popular in the state.
The latest symbol of that strategy: a full-page ad in 14 of the state’s newspapers touting the bills Trump has signed in his first 19 months in office and welcoming him to Montana.
“Welcome to Montana & thank you President Trump for supporting Jon’s legislation to help veterans and first responders, hold the VA accountable, and get rid of waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government,” reads the ad.
The warm welcome likely won’t be enough to stop Trump, a President known for his acid tongue toward political opponents and his penchant for nicknames, from hammering Tester on Thursday.
Trump appeared to take an interest in the Montana race after Tester, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, led the charge against Ronny Jackson, the White House physician who was briefly Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Tester’s criticism helped lead to Jackson withdrawing his nomination over allegations of misconduct at the White House medical office, angering Trump.
“I think Jon Tester has to have a big price to pay in Montana,” Trump said after Jackson withdrew his nomination.
Trump will be joined on Thursday by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who has been the most active member of the Trump family on the campaign trail.
The younger Trump raised money for Rosendale earlier this year and penned a column this week that cast Tester’s attempt to tie himself to the President as false.
“Sen. Jon Tester pretends he’s willing to work with President Trump to Make America Great Again,” Trump Jr. wrote, “but his Chuck Schumer-approved, liberal record proves otherwise.”
The piece could preview how the President will attack Tester on Thursday: by highlighting the senator’s decision to vote against the Republican tax and health care plans and by not standing with Republicans on strict immigration changes.
For Republicans like Rosendale, the President is arguably the best surrogate in the country, given he won the state of Montana by 20 percentage points in 2016.
The White House expects to have Trump on the road more in the coming months.
“He has said he expects to be on the road five or six times a week,” said Bill Stepien, White House political director. “And nothing revs up the base, garners attention and draws contrast with those who have obstructed this President every step of the way like a rally, so I expect his tactic to be used quite often.”
