Trump praises Singapore's 'zero-tolerance' policies on drugs at rally

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump attempted to energise his Republican base ahead of a Pennsylvania special election, talking up the plan for tariffs on steel imports, criticising the media and Democrats, and praising the concept of the death penalty for drug dealers.

Mr Trump endorsed Republican Rick Saccone, a state representative locked in a tight race with Democrat Conor Lamb. It's a must-win Congressional race for Republicans in a district the party has held for more than a decade, as they try to tamp down worries of a Democratic wave in November's midterm elections.

"We need Republicans put in office," Mr Trump said during a rambling speech that ran well over an hour in an airplane hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport, in Moon Township. "We have to get out, and we have to vote."

The president ran through recent events, from his decision to seek talks with North Korea to Friday (March 9)'s strong monthly jobs number; suggested he'd saved the recent Winter Olympics from failure; and said his 2020 campaign slogan would be "Keep America Great."

Besides going over the well-worn ground of his 2016 upset win over Democrat Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump also, for the first time, mused publicly about the possibility of targeting convicted drug dealers with the death penalty. He praised Singapore and China for their "zero-tolerance" policies on drugs.

"I think it's a discussion we have to start thinking about," Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump touted his new tariffs on steel and aluminium, which are popular in the district in the heart of steel country. "We're saving the steel, and a lot of steel mills are opening up," the president said minutes into his speech. He later said the countries of the European Union had banded together "to screw the US on trade," and repeated a recent threat to slap tariffs on German luxury cars.

Mr Trump derided Democratic Representative Maxine Waters as "a very low IQ individual" and said that Washington DC was full of "evil" people.

The visit is a politically risky one for Mr Trump, since Mr Saccone has lost his early lead in the race as Democrats in the district, with an anti-Trump message, gained momentum.

A Republican loss would be embarrassing for the president and — less than three months after a stunning Democratic upset in the Alabama US Senate race — would be another sign of a weakened party heading into the midterm elections.

REPUBLICAN AGENDA

The heavily Republican district voted for Mr Trump by 19 points in the 2016 presidential contest. But Mr Saccone is in much weaker shape. Mr Lamb, a 33-year-old Marine veteran and former assistant US attorney, led by 3 points in an Emerson College poll released last week. A Gravis Marketing poll that had Mr Saccone up by 12 points in January found his edge was down to just 3 points by this week. Both results were within the margin of error.

The seat became vacant when Representative Tim Murphy, a Republican and abortion opponent, resigned in October after it was learned that he had encouraged a woman he was having an affair with to terminate her pregnancy.

NOW A TOSS-UP

Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, a political forecasting unit of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, shifted the race on Thursday from Republican-leaning to a toss-up, pointing to Mr Lamb's strong fundraising and the lack of impact of Republican advertising promoting tax cuts.

Still, Mr Saccone, 60, a conservative Air Force veteran and former college professor, appeared hopeful that the association with Mr Trump could pull him over the finish line. Other Trump administration officials including White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta have also campaigned in the district.

Even if Mr Saccone wins, a narrow margin of victory could show that Democrats are competitive in places they hadn't been recently, forcing Republicans to spend time and money defending what had been safe congressional seats. BLOOMBERG