Dozens of people rallied on behalf of President Donald Trump near the Kendall offices of Rep. Donna Shalala Friday afternoon as part of the “Stop the Madness” tour.
They urged her and fellow South Dade Democrat Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell to drop their support of the impeachment inquiry.
Trump Victory, a reelection fundraising committee, hosted a stop on the multi-city tour – which has been held at various spots throughout the nation in the last few days – at the corner of Southwest 88th Street and 77th Avenue.
Attendees included Julio Martinez, the former mayor of Hialeah. In an interview, he said he’d never seen a president so mistreated. He added that, although he was not a fan of former President Barack Obama, he never protested against him.
Moments before the event started, Miami Young Republicans Chairperson Jessica Fernandez said Democrats are using the threat of impeachment to distract people. “The unemployment rate has decreased under Trump,” Fernandez said.
Fernandez added that Mucarsel-Powell should drop her support for impeachment because her husband, an attorney, has received payments from a Ukrainian oligarch accused of corruption.
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and state GOP Chair Joe Gruters also spoke to attendees.
Gruters said he believed that Democrats are focused on the Ukraine situation with Trump because “it is the only way they can deal with the election results of 2016.”
“Attacking President Trump has been the goal of the Democrats since they took over the House in 2018,” Gruters said. “Their end goal was always impeachment.”
He added that the bigger issue in Ukraine, is the involvement of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, with a Ukrainian energy company.
Later in his speech, Gruters shifted his attention to Shalala and her support of the impeachment inquiry, vowing that “we won’t let them forget their decision… in 2020, we will beat Donna Shalala.”
He told the crowd that the “Stop the Madness” campaign had raised $5 million in the 24 hours after the impeachment inquiry started.
Gaetz claimed that the impeachment plan “would backfire.”
“We will fight for Donald Trump,” he said, “because Donald Trump is fighting for us.”
