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BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) — President Donald Trump said the impeachment probe has been “very hard” on his family, even as he tried to flex his political muscle to flip the governor’s mansion in deep-red Louisiana.
Speaking in friendly territory in a state he carried in 2016 by 20 percentage points, Trump lashed out Thursday at Democratic investigators and what he called a “deranged impeachment witch hunt.” While arguing it was a political boon for his reelection, he acknowledged for the first time a personal toll from the impeachment process that stands to cloud his legacy.
“I have one problem,” Trump said. “Impeachment to me is a dirty word, it’s been very unfair, very hard on my family.”
The House began public impeachment hearings Wednesday.
Trump repeated his denials of wrongdoing in his dealings with Ukraine, asserting he had no need to ask that nation to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family.
“We took down Bush, Clinton, Obama, with no experience, but I had you and we won,” Trump said of his 2016 victory. “Think about that and then think about me — ‘Gee, let’s get some help from Ukraine in order to beat sleepy Joe Biden.’ I don’t think so.”
He added, “The people of this country aren’t buying it,” claiming polls show a benefit to Republicans as Democrats focus on impeachment.
“We did nothing wrong,” Trump insisted, “and they’re doing nothing.”
Even in reliably Republican Louisiana, the gubernatorial contest has reached its final days ahead of Saturday’s election as a tossup. Democrat John Bel Edwards is vying for a second term against little-known Republican political donor Eddie Rispone.
“If you want to defend your values, your jobs, and your freedom, then you need to replace radical John Bel Edwards with a true Louisiana patriot, Eddie Rispone,” Trump said at the rally in north Louisiana’s Bossier City.
The Shreveport area is prime territory to reach out to backers of Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, the gubernatorial primary’s third-place finisher. Both Edwards and Rispone are targeting Abraham’s voters, knowing those 317,000 people can help decide the race’s outcome. Abraham endorsed Rispone and appeared at the rally with Trump.
Louisiana has the last of three Southern governor’s races this year, all targets of intense interest from the GOP and Trump. While Republicans kept the seat in Mississippi, they lost Kentucky’s governorship, with Republican incumbent Matt Bevin conceding the race Thursday.
