Former President Donald Trump spoke for more than 90 minutes at a rally in Anchorage on Saturday in support of Republican U.S. House candidate Sarah Palin and U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Chibaka. “I’m here for two reasons: to support great candidates and to fulfill my promise to Alaska,” Trump said, referring to his vow to campaign against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to impeach him and is running for re-election this year. Trump took the stage at the Alaska Airlines Center around 4:30 p.m., remarked about what a special place Alaska is — “I’ve heard for years that there’s no more beautiful place, and I agree” — then launched into attacks on by Murkowski. But most of his long speech was devoted to bashing Democrats and glorifying his time as president. He called Tshibaka, who is challenging Murkowski, “awesome” and former Gov. Palin “legendary.” He called Murkowski “worse than a RINO,” referring to so-called Republicans by name only. Trump also spoke to praise Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is running for re-election, calling him “awesome.” However, Dunleavy was not present and did not meet with Trump during his brief visit to Alaska, Dunleavy campaign spokesman Andrew Jensen said. Trump has said he would support Dunleavy as long as Dunleavy does not support Murkowski. In his lengthy remarks, Trump celebrated recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including the one that overturned abortion protection guarantees in Roe v. Wade. attacked Democratic President Joe Biden. exalted his own time in office. and repeatedly targeted Murkowski, who has broken with her party multiple times to go against Trump. Donald J. Trump speaks to supporters gathered for a rally at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday, July 9, 2022. (Bill Roth/ADN) “Last week we had a lot of success in a lot of ways in a place called the Supreme Court,” Trump said. “On guns, on religious freedom, on the environment, in Roe v. Wade. This was a great victory,” Trump said, drawing cheers. “We did it”. Trump appointed three of the six justices who were in the majority upholding the ruling that overturned the landmark 1973 Roe decision that protected abortion access nationwide. Murkowski received more endorsements than Trump-endorsed candidates, as Trump repeatedly blasted her. “This is your precious opportunity to throw out the horrible RINO Senator Lisa Murkowski, who is worse than a Democrat,” Trump said. “He’s a total creature of the Washington swamp and a tool of a corrupt establishment the likes of which we’ve never seen before.” A spokesman for Murkowski’s campaign responded in a written statement saying Murkowski “has a proven track record of putting politics aside and delivering for Alaska.” “It is unfortunate that Lisa Murkowski’s political opponents continue to try to deceive Alaskans by misrepresenting her strong, proven record of getting the job done in the Senate,” said spokeswoman Shea Siegert. Trump also took aim at Alaska’s other U.S. senator, Republican Dan Sullivan, for endorsing Murkowski’s re-election campaign. “Murkowski is a bad person and Dan Sullivan should never have endorsed her,” Trump said. “Dan Sullivan should be ashamed of himself.” Trump blasted ranked-choice voting, saying it “can be crooked as hell.” The new voting system was approved by Alaska voters on a 2020 ballot and is being implemented for the first time this year in a special U.S. House race. “We’re stuck with it. Do you know why? Due to Murkowski. It’s the only way he could win,” Trump said. Architects of the new electoral system have said it would favor more moderate candidates. [Photos: Trump appears at Anchorage rally] Rally spectators began lining up outside the Alaska Airlines Center in the early hours of Saturday morning. Music, food trucks and vendors selling Trump merchandise lent the event the air of a festival rather than a political rally, and several attendees said they came to see Trump rather than support the Alaska candidates. People wait in line to enter the rally with Donald Trump July 9, 2022 at the Alaska Airlines Center on the UAA campus. (Anne Raup / ADN) Jerry Gamez and his wife, Christina — a retired Anchorage couple — each paid $250 to skip the line and secure their spot in the crowd. Eddie Erickson and Ty Saylor, 18, of Soldotna, said they drove together to Anchorage Friday night to get in line at 5 a.m. Saturday. “If we don’t get more conservative politicians, our country is gone,” said Vicki Clay, who lives in Anchorage and is retired from the Alaska Air National Guard. She and her husband also paid $250 each to cut the line. Much of the funds raised during Trump’s visit benefited the campaigns of Palin and Chibaka. By the time Trump took the stage, nearly every seat in the arena, which has a capacity of 5,000, was filled. The rally drew prominent Republican state lawmakers — including House Minority Leader Cathy Tilton of Wasilla and Reps. Kevin McCabe of Big Lake and Sarah Vance of Homer — along with local officials such as Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Anchorage Public Library deputy director Judy Norton Eledge . “It’s almost emotional to see people come together,” Bronson said in an interview before Trump spoke, adding that he “would like to see Donald Trump as president.” “His policies were the best policies for this country and this state that I’ve seen in my life,” Bronson said. “I know it upsets a lot of people, but that’s okay, that’s his nature. In Alaska, we’ve been booming under Donald Trump, and I can’t see why anyone would be against his efforts, especially here in Alaska.” Former President Donald Trump spoke to supporters gathered for a rally at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday. (Bill Roth/ADN) The view that Trump was the best president for Alaska is shared, surprisingly, by Trump himself, who said he “did more for Alaska than any president by far.” But he made many false claims about the state. The former president claimed that Murkowski “destroyed ANWR.” But in 2017, a measure authored by Murkowski passed Congress, opening up parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. This measure was signed into law by Trump and the oil leases were sold during the Trump administration. Biden stopped oil and gas drilling when he was elected, but Murkowski has consistently supported oil and gas development in the region. Trump said “I got you Cove Road or whatever they call it,” referring to a controversial road to King Cove that would go through a national wildlife refuge. The road has not been built, despite efforts by the Interior Department under Trump, along with Murkowski and others, to advance the project. Trump also supported his authorization of a mining road at the Ambler Mine. The controversial road plan is under consideration by the Biden administration. Doors to the rally opened at 11 a.m., but a line of people waiting to enter the arena was still wrapped around the building when Anchorage stock chief Uluao “Junior” Aumavae led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance shortly before 2 p.m. A man rides his bicycle through an intersection as music plays from a speaker as people wait in line to enter the Alaska Airlines Center. (Emily Mesner/ADN) People continued to pour into the building as Palin and Tshibaka took the stage. Both candidates wasted no time in attacking their opponents. “I know the old good ol’ boys club, and too many RINOs are a part of it,” Palin said. She then called out her Republican opponent in the U.S. House race, Nick Begich, who said he voted for former Anchorage Democratic mayoral candidate Ethan Berkowitz in 2015. Begich said he voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. Democrat Mary Peltola is also on the ballot in the special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, along with several others running in the August primary. Former Gov. Sarah Palin, who is running for the U.S. House, takes the stage to speak during the rally at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday. (Bill Roth/ADN) Palin commanded loud cheers from the crowd, which chanted “hole, baby, drill!” — the phrase Palin repeated on Saturday dating back to 2008, when Palin was running for vice president. But among Alaska Republicans, there is no consensus on Palin. Conservative Anchorage Mayor Bronson and state Minority Leader Tilton declined to say whether they would vote for Palin, although they said they would support Chibaka. Palin embraced her identity as an outsider to the party, drawing a connection between her experience and Trump and his supporters. “We’ve been mocked and mocked and falsely accused and told to sit down and shut up,” he said. “The things you’ve heard about me—they’re lies. I am much worse than what you have heard.’ Tshibaka, the former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Management who was appointed by Dunleavy, took 10 minutes on stage to draw a comparison between herself and incumbent Murkowski. Trump vowed to campaign against Murkowski after she was one of seven Republicans in the US Senate who voted to impeach him following the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. “This Senate seat is often the deciding vote that can affect the rest of the nation,” Tshibaka said. Murkowski is known for her willingness to toe the party line on key issues such as abortion access, judicial nominees and gun control. “It’s time for change,” Tshibaka repeated over and over. US Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka joined Donald Trump on stage during a rally at the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday. (Bill Roth/ADN) Murkowski was scheduled to meet with voters in Kenai and Soldotna on…
