President Donald Trump began his rally in Cincinnati talking about inner cities that are "run exclusively by Democrat politicians" but said he wouldn't name names, because he doesn't "want to be controversial."
It was a clear reference to the recent attacks he launched on Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings . Trump criticized the prominent African American politician's West Baltimore district as "rat and rodent infested" and a place where no human would want to live.
Some of the President's aides have been uncomfortable with those attacks, but Trump has shown no signs of backing away from it.
The President's last rally in North Carolina came after Trump leveled a racist broadside at a foursome of Democratic congresswomen of color known as "The Squad," telling them to "go back" to the countries they came from even though three of them were born in the US. Trump supporters at that rally amplified the attack with chants of "Send her back!"
Trump told the crowd Thursday night that "no one has paid a higher price for the far left destructive agendas than Americans living in our inner cities," before saying the issues are caused by communities that "have been run exclusively by Democrat politicians."
"Look, we can name one after the other but I won't do that. I won't do that because I don't want to be controversial," the President added.
Minutes later when a protester disrupted the rally, Trump exclaimed: "You must have a Democrat mayor. Do you have a Democrat mayor?"
The President also claimed that "so many" of the mayors of inner cities are now in jail.
Trump, who has sought to brand all the Democratic candidates as socialists , took the stage at the campaign rally in the battleground state of Ohio eager to exploit the ideological fissures in the Democratic Party laid bare in this week's debates.
"The people on the stage tonight, and last, were not those that will either Make America Great Again or Keep America Great!" Trump tweeted soon after Wednesday night's debate , referring to his two campaign slogans. "Our Country now is breaking records in almost every category, from Stock Market to Military to Unemployment. We have prosperity & success like never before."
Trump campaign and Republican Party officials have already spent the last two days amplifying the Democratic candidates' most progressive positions and magnifying attacks on frontrunner, former Vice President Joe Biden, whom Trump and many of his advisers privately consider the biggest general election threat.
The top issues that revealed the most division between the Democratic candidates -- and the extent to which the party has moved to the left in recent years -- were indeed on health care and immigration. On health care, candidates debated the merits of a fully government-run health insurance system vs. a public option that would preserve private insurance. And on immigration, some candidates advocated for decriminalizing illegal border crossings while others talked of creating a more compassionate system while still keeping laws against illegal immigration on the books.
After the debate, some political strategists argued that Democrats' most progressive positions fed into Trump's sweeping characterization that Democrats support "open borders" and want to eliminate private health care plans that some Americans would like to keep.
More moderate Democratic candidates who support universal health care but oppose an entirely government-run system that would eliminate private health insurance were accused of parroting Republican talking points. While Trump's opposition to Obamacare sets him well apart from all of the Democratic presidential candidates, Trump and his team have already zeroed in on the most progressive Democrats' proposals to move toward a "Medicare for All" system.
