The race for President collided with work in Congress on the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, as Hillary Clinton urged Democrats to stand with President Obama on that agreement, and two leading Republicans rallied with thousands outside the Capitol against the deal.
"We are led by very, very stupid people," Donald Trump said to cheers from a crowd gathered on the U.S. Capitol grass, as Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took jabs at both President Obama and GOP leaders in the Congress.
"Mitch McConnell and John Boehner can stop this deal," Cruz told the crowd, which booed lustily at almost every mention of the GOP leadership in the Congress, as various speakers blamed Republican chieftains for not doing enough to stop the Iran agreement.
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Credit: Jamie Dupree
While Cruz received loud applause, and was the one who invited his GOP rival, it was Trump who clearly drove many people to venture to the U.S. Capitol on a hot and steamy summer day.
"We're Trump supporters," said Jim McDonald, who joined with a friend in holding up a giant home made Trump sign.
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Trump delighted the crowd with his speech, which after taking issue with the Iran deal veered into more of a general stump speech by the real estate mogul.
"We are going to turn this country around," Trump declared, before he ventured into the Capitol to meet with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Credit: Jamie Dupree
Inside the Capitol
Inside the bowels of the Capitol, Trump sat down with Sen. Sessions and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; the GOP front runner then emerged and took questions from reporters:
Trump patted me on the shoulder as he left like I was an old golfing buddy of his; we then trailed him around the corner where broad smiles greeted him as he jumped in an elevator.
I ran up the stairs and caught him for a few more quick questions.
The post-mortem on Trump in the Press Gallery was interesting - my colleagues agreed that Trump was much more accessible than most lawmakers, and he gave off the vibe of just being 'one of the guys' in the hallway.
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