Trump talks Clinton, immigration, Second Amendment in Tampa visit

Author: Associated Press
Published: Updated:
Gage Skidmore/ Flickr/ MGN

TAMPA, Fla. – Donald Trump brought his presidential campaign to Florida.

The presumptive Republican nominee appeared Saturday for approximately 45 minutes at a campaign rally in Tampa.

Trump took aim at Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and spoke about his views on immigration and the Second Amendment. Polls show Trump and Clinton are tied in Florida, one of the nation’s biggest battleground states.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, also absorbed a verbal blow, with Trump calling him a “stone, cold loser” for not backing him. Trump said the Republican Party “has got to get their act together, come together to win” and slammed GOP senate candidates who are not backing his run for president.

He spoke confidently of his own ability to win the presidency, but warned that down-ballot races for the House and Senate could be at risk if Republicans don’t rally behind his campaign.

“The Republican party has to be tough and smart,” he said. “If not, I’m gonna win but a lot of other people are not.”

Prominent Florida Republicans showed their support for Trump on Saturday. Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi were among those who introduced the billionaire real estate mogul and former reality television host.

“Donald Trump is hopeful,” said Scott, whose support of Trump has generated running mate speculation. “The opposite of hopeful is Hillary Clinton.”

Trump, at one point, asked the crowd to shout out names of potential running mates. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Condoleezza Rice, who served as secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration, were among the names he repeated.

“This is fun,” bellowed Trump. “We have a lot of good people.”

Toward the end of his speech, Trump supporters broke into a chorus of “Happy Birthday.” He turns 70 years old on June 14.

As his supporters began singing, Trump laughed and said “I don’t want to hear about it.”

He said he’s “very torn” about the birthday, but added: “I feel like I’m 35. That’s the good news.”

Trump has been striking a more welcoming tone of late after being slammed for suggesting that the judge hearing a case against his now-defunct Trump University is biased against him because the judge’s parents were born in Mexico. He told a gathering of evangelical Christians in Washington on Friday that “no one should be judged by their race or their color.”

Trump has refused to apologize for his remarks about the judge. He issued a statement earlier this week saying his comments had been “misconstrued.”

A small group of protesters turned out at the Tampa Convention Center event and were roundly booed by Trump supporters.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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