Trump gives commencement address at the University of Alabama
President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with impressions of transgender weightlifters, accusations that judges were interfering with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Republican맥스카지노s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.
맥스카지노You맥스카지노re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,맥스카지노 the president told the graduates.
But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being 맥스카지노ripped off맥스카지노 before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, 맥스카지노were not good for our country.맥스카지노
맥스카지노But don맥스카지노t let that scare you,맥스카지노 he said. 맥스카지노It was an aberration.맥스카지노
Video below: 'I think I should have come here': President Donald Trump talks to graduates about the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
The president of the University of Alabama, Stuart Bell, told graduates before Trump took the stage that Thursday night맥스카지노s event was all about them.
맥스카지노This special ceremony offers a meaningful opportunity for you, for I, to reflect on the important connection between academic inquiry, civic leadership, and public service,맥스카지노 Bell said.
Trump mostly went in a different direction.
He did a grunting impression of a female weightlifter as he criticized the participation of transgender women in sports. He bragged about how tech moguls have warmed up to him, saying, 맥스카지노They all hated me in my first term, and now they맥스카지노re kissing my ass.맥스카지노
And he falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he lost, was 맥스카지노rigged.맥스카지노
But after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, Trump turned back to the graduates, offering 10 pieces of advice drawn from his life and career, such as 맥스카지노Think of yourself as a winner,맥스카지노 맥스카지노Be an original맥스카지노 and 맥스카지노Never, ever give up.맥스카지노
He told them they were never too young to be successful and described how he worked on his first hotel development deal in his 20s.
맥스카지노Now is the time to work harder than you맥스카지노ve ever worked before,맥스카지노 he said. 맥스카지노Find your limits and then smash through everything.맥스카지노
Although Trump described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event.
Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.
In his remarks Thursday, Trump noted that he was marking his 100th day in office and touted the plummeting levels of arrests at the southern U.S. border as evidence that his immigration policies were working. But he accused the courts of trying to stop him from fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.
맥스카지노Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process,맥스카지노 he said. 맥스카지노But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally?맥스카지노
Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly.
On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts gathering. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to 맥스카지노expose맥스카지노 his enemies.
Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school 맥스카지노a cherry on top맥스카지노 of her college years.
She said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.맥스카지노
Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, 맥스카지노I don맥스카지노t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."
The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.
맥스카지노I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it맥스카지노s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,맥스카지노 she said.
At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O맥스카지노Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a 맥스카지노Tide Against Trump맥스카지노 맥스카지노 a play on the university맥스카지노s nickname.
Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.
맥스카지노I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,맥스카지노 Meyers said.
O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students맥스카지노 graduation 맥스카지노all about him, true to form.맥스카지노 He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to 맥스카지노win America back.맥스카지노
맥스카지노The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,맥스카지노 O맥스카지노Rourke said.
Jones told the crowd they were there 맥스카지노not just as a protest, but as a movement.맥스카지노
맥스카지노You are here today because you맥스카지노re concerned, you맥스카지노re afraid. You understand that this country맥스카지노s great democracy is teetering right now with what we맥스카지노re seeing going on,맥스카지노 the former senator said.
Trump맥스카지노s presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.
After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
___
Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.