War cry: Trump opening acts raise eyebrows, pump up crowds
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative radio host and columnist Howie Carr, opening for Donald Trump at a presidential campaign rally in Maine, brought up Hillary Clinton and her potential running mate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Carr's account is the latest example of controversy stirred by provocative Trump surrogates who go even further in their opening acts than the typically unguarded candidate.
Trump's team typically invites local elected officials who have endorsed him to speak, and familiar faces often join the tour.
Senior aide Stephen Miller typically delivers the final speech before Trump takes the stage, offering a pointed take-down of Clinton.
[...] often, in their efforts to pump up the crowd, the speakers make inaccurate and eyebrow-raising remarks that, at least so far, appear to have drawn little pushback from the campaign.
Speaking at an event in Hickory, North Carolina, in March, Burns, the president of the Christian NOW Television Network, appeared to question the faith of Bernie Sanders, then Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination.
To be honest that was the first time I really became conscious that the media was listening to what I said," he said, adding that the comment wasn't intended as a criticism of Judaism and "had nothing to do with his faith or religion or conversion to Christianity.
When you're wearing this shirt you won't need smoke signals to tell everyone that you've figured out this is one squaw who speaks with a forked tongue, reads the description.