Editor's note: Audio of the telephone rally can be found at the end of this article.
During a telephone rally with supporters Wednesday evening, former President Donald Trump outlined the agenda he hopes to accomplish should voters send him back to the White House and elect Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent to Congress during next week’s general election.
“Think of this, seven days away from the most important election in the history of our country,” Trump said during the event Tuesday.
While Trump is unlikely to earn any electoral votes from Washington, the call, which lasted approximately 10 minutes, comes as Republicans make a concerted effort to flip the Third Congressional District.
“It’s absolutely essential that we take back this seat,” Kent said during the call. “This is one of the top seats for us to flip.”
Last week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, hosted a breakfast fundraiser for Kent while Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, campaigned with Kent for the second time this election cycle.
Trump has endorsed both of Kent’s campaigns for Congress and, in his remarks, Kent noted that Trump won the Third District in both of his previous presidential campaigns.
“We need to flip this seat so that we can actually pursue President Trump’s agenda and give him the support that he needs, securing our border, getting inflation under control, getting us out of these needless and endless wars,” Kent said.
A former Green Beret, Kent enlisted in the U.S. Army before training to join the special forces. After more than two decades in the armed forces, Kent was sworn in as a CIA paramilitary operations officer.
“You can be very proud of Joe Kent, this is a true American hero,” Trump said.
After his wife, Shannon, was killed in a bombing in Northern Syria in 2019, Kent first met Trump on the tarmac of Dover Air Force Base during a ceremony to mark the dignified transfer of her remains.
“One of the worst days of my life was when I met our President, President Trump, who has always fought for our country, for our troops, for our veterans,” Kent said. “So I’m just so honored to be here in this fight with him.”
Trump, who hosted a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Tuesday night, said that Kent is “a special person or else I wouldn’t be doing this late in the evening where I am.”
Recalling the first time he met Kent, Trump said he was “really impressed, incredibly impressed with Joe.”
“I was amazed. He was strong. Devastated, but so strong,” Trump said. “He’s a real fighter and a real hero. And I said, ‘You know what? You should run for office someday.’”
If elected, Trump said that he would work with Kent to cut inflation, reduce the price of energy and cut illegal immigration. Trump also called for the “largest deportation of criminals in the history of our country.”
“That’s not a record I particularly want, but we have no choice. It’s not sustainable,” Trump said.
Trump also called for tax cuts that would exempt tips, overtime and Social Security benefits from taxes.
Trump echoed the remarks of Johnson and said that if elected, he would prevent World War III from breaking out.
“We’re at the closest we’ve ever been to World War III,” Trump said.
In his remarks, Trump called incumbent Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, a “total radical left person.”
“She’ll go with whatever Joe Biden or Kamala wants,” Trump said.
In a statement Tuesday, Emmett Avery, a spokesperson for the Gluesenkamp Perez campaign, said that “Marie's focused on Southwest Washington first and respects whatever choice voters make when it comes to the presidential election.”
“She knows many people, especially Republicans and independents, who are casting their ballots for Marie and former President Trump,” Avery said.
During a telephone rally with supporters Wednesday evening, former President Donald Trump outlined the agenda he hopes to accomplish should voters send him back to the White House and elect Republican congressional candidate Joe Kent to Congress during next week’s general election.
