Trump at rally: Republicans ‘will vote the weakest’ Democrat New Hampshire primary – Washington Times

MANCHESTER, N.H. President Trump on Monday said hes hearing that Republicans could cross over and vote in the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire for the weakest candidate.

I hear a lot of Republicans tomorrow will vote for the weakest candidate possible of the Democrats - does that make sense? You people wouldnt do that, Mr. Trump said as he rallied here before thousands of cheering supporters a day out from the New Hampshire primaries.

He said, though, the issue is that theyre all weak.

We proudly welcome and embrace voters of all parties and political persuasions who want to join our mission, a very simple mission, remember? Make America Great Again, he said. You can vote for the weakest candidate, if you want.

They dont know what theyre doing - they cant even count their votes, he said, referring to last weeks botched Iowa caucuses.

The president came within a whisker of defeating Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire in 2016, though a Republican presidential candidate hasnt carried the state since 2000.

You have some pretty strange election laws here, right? Remember last time, we won the primary tremendously, he said. We should have won the [general] election but they had buses being shipped up from Massachusetts. Now you get prosecuted if you do what they did.

But we have done great, this has been an incredible state for us. Just great people. And we hear that theyre good because you have crossovers in primaries, dont you? he said.

Before he spoke, the crowd serenaded the president with chants of USA! USA!

We have more in this arena and outside of this arena than all of the other candidates, meaning the Democrats, put together and multiplied times five, he said.

There is a Republican primary in the Granite State on Tuesday, but Mr. Trumps victory is all but assured. His most prominent competitor is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, after former Rep. Joe Walsh ended his long-shot primary challenge to the president on Friday.

Unaffiliated voters in New Hampshire can vote in either partys primary. Conservative writer Bill Kristol is helping push an effort to get independent voters in New Hampshire to vote for a responsible Democratic candidate to take on Mr. Trump.

Supporters of the president said they saw the election-eve rally as a way to mess with the Democrats ahead of a make-or-break primary for much of the 2020 field.

They dont know what to do with him. Hes driving em crazy. Every single thing they try, he just comes out smelling like roses, said Michael Griffin, a 57-year-old fraud investigator from East Bridgewater, Mass.

This guy could sell ice to Eskimos, he said of the president. I watch him sometimes and Im just in total awe.

Dave Boyer reported from Washington.

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Trump at rally: Republicans 'will vote the weakest' Democrat New Hampshire primary - Washington Times