TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with complaints about his critics, accusations that judges were “interfering†with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Republican’s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well-received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.
“You’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,†the president told the graduates.
But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being “ripped off†before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, “were not good for our country.â€
“But don’t let that scare you,†he said. “It was an aberration.â€
Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly.
On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts jamboree. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to “expose†his enemies.
On Thursday night, after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, he returned to words of encouragement.
“Now is the time to work harder than you’ve ever worked before,†he said. “Find your limits and then smash through everything.â€
While Trump has described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event.
Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.
Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school “a cherry on top†of her college years.
She called Trump a “very influential person†and said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.â€
Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, “I don’t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."
The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.
“I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it’s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,†she said.
At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a “Tide Against Trump†— a play on the university’s nickname.
Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.
“I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,†Meyers said.
O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students’ graduation “all about him, true to form.†He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to “win America back.â€
“The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,†O’Rourke said.
Jones told the crowd they were there “not just as a protest, but as a movement.â€
“You are here today because you’re concerned, you’re afraid. You understand that this country’s great democracy is teetering right now with what we’re seeing going on,†the former senator said.
Trump’s presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.
After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
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Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Atlanta.
