Trump let a far-right British gadfly speak longer at his Arizona rally than embattled GOP Sen. Martha McSally

Donald Trump and Martha McSally.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

President Trump briefly shared the spotlight with Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) during a rally in Goodyear, Arizona, on Wednesday, telling her she had "one minute" to talk to the crowd, adding, "They don't want to hear this."

McSally is trailing her Democratic opponent, Mark Kelly, in the polls, but at the rally, Trump gave more speaking time to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), and controversial British politician and key Brexit leader Nigel Farage, who flew all the way to the desert to call Trump "the most resilient and brave person" he has ever met.

When it was time for McSally to address the crowd, Trump said, "Martha, come up fast. Fast. Fast. Come on. Quick. You got one minute! One minute, Martha! They don't want to hear this, Martha. Come on. Let's go. Quick, quick, quick. Come on." It was, Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts wrote, "how you might call your dog."

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Watching the scene unfold was "painful," Roberts said, as "the president who dodged the draft" was treating "the nation's first female combat pilot with such disrespect."

This wasn't the first uncomfortable moment between Trump and McSally at a rally; earlier this month, Trump was in Tucson, where he heaped praised upon Kelli Ward, chair of the Arizona Republican Party. Ward, he said, was "a warrior" and "a fighter" who is "a friend that's so loyal, and strong and a good person." In 2018, Ward lost to McSally in a three-way GOP Senate primary, and Trump lamented that "she would have been, oh, if she didn't have three or four people running at the same time, she would have been your senator. Hate to say it, she would have been your senator." McSally was in attendance at the rally but never got a chance to speak, Roberts said, adding, "It's baffling that Trump would treat McSally almost as an annoyance in her own state, at a time when she is fighting for every vote." Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.