Getty President Donald Trump during an October 2016 campaign rally in Phoenix.
President Donald Trump is kicking off his weekend with a Friday-night rally as he visits Huntsville, Alabama.
Trump is campaigning for Republican Sen. Luther Strange and will hold the event at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Air Force One is slated to land at 6:30 p.m. local time with the rally beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern. The president will appear on stage around 8 p.m. Eastern.
Watch a live stream of the rally in the video below:
Prior to leaving Washington D.C., Trump expressed his excitement to head to the South, saying he’s anticipating a “big crowd.”
Heading to Alabama now, big crowd!
Will be in Alabama tonight. Luther Strange has gained mightily since my endorsement, but will be very close. He loves Alabama, and so do I!
Strange is set for a runoff election with Roy Moore on Tuesday. The two candidates debated each other Thursday. Trump has supported Moore in the race and has campaigned for him in recent months.
On Thursday, Trump tweeted the importance of the special election, saying that the support for Strange has “gone up a lot” since he formally endorsed him.
Senator Luther Strange has gone up a lot in the polls since I endorsed him a month ago. Now a close runoff. He will be great in D.C.
Strange has held the Senate seat left vacant by Jeff Sessions, who Trump appointed as the attorney general shortly after taking office. The runoff election between Strange and Moore is to determine who will finish out Session’s term.
Strange told CNN that he and Trump have formed a “close, personal friendship over the last few months.
“We both come from the same background, the same mission, the same motivation to make this country great again,” Strange said to the news outlet. “We’ve sort of bonded. I’ve not been in Washington as long as the President has. He’s learned the ways of Washington the hard way — lots of criticism, lots of people standing in the way — and so have I.”
Trump’s visit comes hours after the GOP-led healthcare bill was dealt another blow by Sen. John McCain. The senator announced he would oppose the latest edition of the bill that promises to overhaul Obamacare. Earlier in the day Friday, McCain announced he couldn’t pledge his support to the bill in its current state.
I cannot in good conscience vote for Graham-Cassidy. A bill impacting so many lives deserves a bipartisan approach. t.co/2sDjhw6Era
Friday’s visit to Alabama is Trump’s first one since he took office January 20.
AL.com reported people started lining up early Friday morning, with the first person in line saying he arrived at the Von Braun Center at 3:30 a.m.
“I’m just excited about what (Trump’s) trying to do for the country,” Waylon Turner told the publication. “I feel he is trying to do something good for America.”
