HERSHEY, Pa. _ President Donald Trump dismissed and mocked the articles of impeachment House Democrats unveiled Tuesday, predicting they will backfire, as he rallied a crowd of more than 10,000 supporters in a state crucial to his reelection bid.
"Any Democrat that votes for this sham will be voting to sacrifice the House majority, their dignity and their career," he said. He said the "partisan lunatics have said they will try again" if they lose at trial in the Senate.
"You saw their so-called articles of impeachment today? People are saying they're not even a crime ... This is impeachment light," Trump said. "This is the lightest impeachment in the history of our country by far. It's not even like an impeachment. These people are stone-cold crooked."
Supporters roared throughout the nearly 90-minute speech that often meandered into familiar refrains and Trumpian insults of the press and other enemies. But he continuously came back to impeachment.
Trump also questioned the timing of the Democrats' decision to support a long-delayed trade deal his administration negotiated to replace NAFTA, also revealed Tuesday. He called it the "silver lining" of impeachment.
"It's a huge deal and it plays down the impeachment, because they're embarrassed by the impeachment," Trump said.
During his speech, Trump also veered off to attack Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. The blast came just days after John McNesby, president of Philadelphia's police union, met with the president at the White House to condemn prosecutors such as Krasner, who have taken office across the country pledging to make the criminal justice system less punitive.
"You have the worst district attorney," Trump said. "I've been hearing about this guy, he lets killers out almost immediately ... You better get yourself a new prosecutor."
Thousands of supporters huddled in a cold rain for hours Tuesday, waiting to enter a hockey arena for the rally, scheduled in a strategically important region of a critical state.
"Mr. Trump is a disruptor, he's not a politician," said Michael Townsend, 70, of Carlisle, Pa. "He's the right person we need right now. The world's not fairy tales and pixies, it's all these countries that want to destroy us."
Townsend was not worried about impeachment. "The real trial is in the Senate. And the Senate fortunately is run by Republicans. ... I just want to see Joe Biden and his son be forced to testify," he said.
Impeachment is "a very sad situation," Eunice Rambo Smith lamented while standing in a concession line.
"They think they have to take the president down in that way because they know they don't have anyone who can beat him," Smith, of Center Valley, Pa., said. "It's just all fake. It's all fake. But I don't think it hurts him. I think he gets stronger. He's a very strong man."
The articles charge Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of a lawful congressional investigation, charging that he used crucial military aid to pressure Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election on his behalf by investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, who had business dealings there.
Vice President Mike Pence, who introduced Trump at the "Keep America Great Rally" at the Giant Center, campaigned earlier in the day in western Pennsylvania.
"He's coming to a key region in one of the most pivotal states in the 2020 election cycle," said Christopher Borick, a pollster and political science professor at Muhlenberg College. Borick said Trump needs to "energize a base of voters that have been there for him in 2016 and to perhaps marginally expand that base so he can repeat."
Pennsylvania is crucial to Trump's reelection bid. In 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton by less than one percentage point _ 44,000 votes _ to capture the state's 20 electoral votes. But in recent years, Pennsylvania's cities and their outlying suburbs have grown bluer, while rural areas have grown more red _ making areas with both populations, like the south-central Pennsylvania county Trump is visiting, key in determining who wins the state in 2020.
Dauphin County, where Hershey is based, is a swing county in a swing state. It added 34,000 voters to its rolls over the last two decades, according to an Inquirer analysis, but is no longer as reliably Republican as it once was, with 49% of voters in the country casting a ballot for Clinton in 2016.
Trump payed homage to Pennsylvania favorites like Hershey chocolate, the Nittany Lions and the Liberty Bell. He said Pennsylvania's economy is better off now than three years ago, citing a recent visit he made to the new Shell petrochemical plant near Pittsburgh.
The president said steel mills in Pennsylvania are "roaring back to life" _ although some job cuts in that industry have recently been announced _ and said that ramped up natural gas production will create thousands of jobs. He blasted Democrats, including Biden, who have said they would move to end the use of fossil fuels.
"The voters of this Commonwealth will never let that happen," Trump said. "Can you imagine?"
The rally was Trump's fourth appearance in the state in 2019. Earlier in the year, Trump had rallies in Lycoming and Beaver Counties. He also made an official visit in October to an energy industry conference in Pittsburgh.
Trump not only dismissed impeachment but called it a boon to Republicans and to his approval rating, which is about 45% nationally, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
Before ending with his signature 'Make America Great Again chant, Trump invoked a more historic call and response, referencing George Washington's crossing the Delaware at Valley Forge. "They used the password, 'victory or death.'" Trump said to the crowd. "Victory or Death."
