President Donald Trump called Black Lives Matter protesters "bad people" and "thugs" during a rowdy, non-socially distanced campaign rally in New Hampshire on Friday night.
"Protesters, your ass. I don't talk about my ass. Those are not protesters," Trump told a roaring crowd of several hundred people at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
"They don't even know who George Floyd is ... These are just bad people, troublemakers, and they shouldn't be representing our country at important events," Trump said of those who protested his White House speech Thursday night, at which he formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination.
Trump was particularly furious about the protesters who swarmed Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after he left the speech. "Thugs," Trump called them.
He also claimed he would give a "medal" to the four Washington, D.C., officers who escorted Paul from the scene. "I told that to Rand today," he said.
The Friday night rally was Trump's first since June 23, when he held a campaign event at a Phoenix megachurch.
Trump's campaign said in an email to supporters before the New Hampshire event that "masks are required and will be provided to all attendees."
However, few attendees wore masks and social distancing was not enforced.
Masks were not required Thursday night on the South Lawn of the White House, either. More than 1,500, mostly maskless supporters attended that event.
The back-to-back political bashes came even as the coronavirus continues to kill nearly 1,000 Americans every day. In total, more than 181,000 Americans have died.
Joe Biden, who has put traditional campaigning on ice for the rest of the year out of coronavirus concerns, blasted Trump's handling of the pandemic ahead of the New Hampshire rally, and questioned whether he comprehends the severity of the pandemic.
"Mr. President, Americans are canceling weddings and holding funerals without family. They're sacrificing so more Americans don't have to die. But instead of leading by example, you hosted a super spreader event on the South Lawn," Biden tweeted. "When will you take the presidency seriously?"
With less than 10 weeks to go until Nov. 3, Trump trails Biden by double-digits in most general election polls.
With the pandemic still crushing the U.S. economy, Trump is trying to reboot his sputtering campaign to focus on "law and order."
As part of that effort, Trump has attempted to paint Biden as a puppet of radical, left-wing forces, even though the ex-vice president espouses mostly centrist views.
"He's weak," Trump told the New Hampshire crowd. "He's weak as hell."
