President Trump Rallies The Faithful With Nashville Stemwinder

NASHVILLE, TN — President Donald Trump does not know who Phil Bredesen is.

At least, the nation’s 45th president claimed to be ignorant of the former two-term Tennessee governor certain to square off against frequent Trump surrogate U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Bob Corker in November’s general election.

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In a Tuesday night rally at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, the president repeatedly tied Bredesen, largely considered a member of the Democratic Party’s moderate wing, to national Democratic figures while claiming to have never heard of him.

"Marsha’s very liberal Democrat opponent, Phil Bredesen – I've never heard of this guy…he’s an absolute, total tool of ... Chuck Schumer,” Trump said.

Later, Trump referred to Bredesen who, in 2006, won all 95 Tennessee counties in his second gubernatorial victory, as “Phil Whateverthehellhisnameis” and “Philbert.” Bredesen’s first name is Philip and holds a narrow lead over Blackburn in a head-to-head race, according to pollsters which also show him with higher favorability and name recognition than Blackburn.

Though ostensibly this was a rally in support of Blackburn - it was concomitant with a high-dollar Blackburn fundraiser, after all - the president still hit on his favorite oratorical topics.

He railed against illegal immigration and insisted Mexico will pay for the border wall, though he indicated the country would do so through a renegotiated NAFTA and that the wall would be mostly supplementary to the natural barriers - mountain ranges, vast deserts and the Rio Grande - already in place.

“They’re going to pay for it, and they’re going to enjoy it,” the president said.

Trump also railed against MS-13, leading the crowd in a call-and-response calling the gang’s members “animals,” as he’s done several times in recent weeks.

The overarching theme, such as it was, was that he needed Republicans to hold the Senate, where the GOP has a 51-49 edge; with the popular Bredesen in place, Democrats have confidence in their Tennessee prospects.

Among other things, Trump said a Congress controlled by Democrats would mean “You won’t have a Second Amendment.” Constitutional amendments require approval of two-thirds of both houses of Congress and of three-fourths of states.

Trump’s roughly hour long remarks at Municipal ended with a strange aside about the size of his own hands, which he called “big, beautiful.”

Watch a replay here.

Photo via Alex Wong/Getty Images