MOBILE, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Katie Britt welcomed President Donald Trump back to Alabama on Friday with a speech that credited him for a string of wins for the state, from U.S. Space Command in Huntsville to shipbuilding on the Gulf Coast, and that cast this year’s Democratic candidates as people who, in her words, “don’t love this nation.”
Britt, a Republican from Montgomery, addressed the crowd inside the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center during the hours-long warm-up program before Trump took the stage. Her remarks blended praise for the president, a pitch for keeping Republican control of Congress and a direct appeal to the audience to bring friends, neighbors and fellow churchgoers to the polls on Nov. 3.
“How incredible is it to be here to welcome President Donald J. Trump,” Britt told the audience. “Alabama has been behind you from the very start.”
Britt credits Trump for tax changes and Alabama projects
Britt opened by walking through what she described as the president’s accomplishments, beginning with federal tax changes on tips, overtime and Social Security income.
“Look, from no tax on tips to no tax on overtime to no tax on Social Security. He did that with not one Democratic vote. Every single Democrat voted against that,” she said. “President Trump wanted to put more money back in your pocket.”
She then turned to Alabama-specific items. Britt said Trump had come through for the state “from Space Command there in Huntsville to investing in our shipyards, making sure that our shipbuilding capacity and capabilities are where they need to be.”
Earlier in the day, Britt helped break ground on the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway, the long-planned Interstate 10 project that will add a new crossing of the Mobile River and a new Bayway across the upper end of Mobile Bay. Gov. Kay Ivey and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also took part in the groundbreaking. The project carries a price tag of $3.2 billion and has been described as the largest transportation project in state history, and the Trump administration finalized a $2.52 billion federal loan for it in September.
“President Trump has delivered. Alabama loves you, and we are proud to stand with you,” Britt said.
‘Common sense and crazy’
From there, Britt pivoted to the midterm elections and what she called the contrast between the two parties’ candidates.
“Let me tell you the difference between Republicans and Democrats on the ballot this year. It could not be more stark. Basically, it’s the difference in common sense and crazy, right?” Britt said.
“The Democrats are actually running the most radical group of candidates this country has ever seen. That’s why holding the majority in the Senate and in the House isn’t just critical; it is actually existential to the nation as we know it,” she said.
Britt then listed a series of positions she attributed to Democratic candidates. “On issue after issue, the ones where 80% of America agrees, these candidates find themselves on the wrong side of every issue,” she said. “They support sterilization and gender surgeries for children.”
“They support men in women’s sports,” she continued. “Republicans will stand firm ensuring our daughters have safety and have the ability to compete fairly.”
On health care and elections, Britt said: “These candidates want Medicare and Medicaid for all, and I mean all, including illegal immigrants. They want you to pay for their health care. They don’t even believe in common sense voter ID rules. They actually blocked those in the United States Senate, and it doesn’t stop there.”
She also cited the Democratic Socialists of America, an organization that is separate from the Democratic Party. “According to the Democratic Socialists of America themselves, they believe in abolishing the Supreme Court and the presidency, abolishing ICE, abolishing prisons, letting criminals be released on the streets,” Britt said.
Senator points to Michigan Senate race
Britt’s sharpest line of the evening came when she argued that the disagreement between the parties goes beyond policy.
“They don’t just disagree with us; they don’t love this nation,” she said. “And let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. In Michigan, the Democrat running for Senate went out to campaign with Hasan Piker, a man who said America deserved 9/11.”
“He said they deserved 9/11. That we deserved 9/11. And when asked to disavow that, he said he would not,” Britt said.
The Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, has campaigned with Piker, who is an online streamer.
Britt tied the point back to Mobile, speaking of “the flag that our men and women in uniform proudly carried into battle, the flag that flies over the USS Alabama right here in Mobile.” The World War II battleship has been a museum ship at Battleship Memorial Park on Mobile Bay for decades and is one of the region’s best-known landmarks.
“This is not a difference of opinion. This is a difference in our American values,” she said. “These candidates will take our nation in a direction that is undeniably un-American.”
“They want to take your hard-earned money, and make the government bigger than it’s ever been, and they want to give the government more control,” Britt said. “We will not let that happen.”
A longtime ally of Rhett Marques
Britt’s appearance carried added weight because of her close ties to state Rep. Rhett Marques, R-Enterprise, the Republican nominee in Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, which is considered the state’s most competitive U.S. House race this year. Marques is challenging first-term U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile.
Britt has supported Marques since the day he entered the race last year. She gave his campaign the maximum contribution of $10,000 from her leadership PAC, Alabama First, and called him “a great friend and a strong conservative fighter who has always had my back and President Trump’s.”
Later that fall, while Marques was still running in the 1st Congressional District, Britt campaigned alongside him in Orange Beach and called him “the America First winner.”
When Trump endorsed Marques in June, the president wrote that Marques is “strongly supported by many of the Greatest MAGA Warriors in Alabama, including my friend, U.S. Senator Katie Britt.”
Marques, in turn, credited Britt on the night he won the Republican nomination in August. “This all started with somebody we all know, and most of us all love, Katie Britt,” Marques said at the time. “Without Katie, without Senator Britt, rather, I promise you, and I can’t stress this enough, I would not be standing right here before you.”
Figures, for his part, said ahead of the rally that he was not thinking about Trump’s visit to his hometown “at all.” “We know people here are tired of Trump,” the congressman said. “They’ve reached a sort of fever pitch of tolerance of this administration, of its corruption, of the policies that have been harming people in Alabama.”
A call to talk to neighbors — and vote
Britt closed with a turnout message aimed squarely at the people in the arena.
“So here’s what everyone here can do. Between now and November, I want you to talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to your friends, both in your community and in other cities. I want you to talk to who you sit next to at church on Sunday, and vote,” she said. “We cannot sit this one out. Our children are watching, and their future is at stake.”
“Stand up on November 3 for less government, lower taxes, and more freedoms and liberty. And on November 3, stand up for this nation, the values that we know make this nation so special, and have the next generation’s back,” Britt said.
“Alabama is a critical part of making this happen. Let’s keep the Senate. Let’s keep Alabama red, and let’s keep America great,” she said.
Echoes in the president’s speech
Some of the themes Britt raised resurfaced when Trump spoke later in the evening. During his remarks, the president repeatedly used the word “mutilization” to describe gender-related surgeries for minors, a word Britt had also used in her speech. Trump also touted the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime, which he credited to the legislation he calls the Big Beautiful Bill, and questioned why anyone would oppose voter identification requirements.
Trump told the crowd that “state after state, the Democrats have nominated the most extreme candidates,” a message that closely tracked Britt’s argument that Democrats are fielding “the most radical group of candidates this country has ever seen.”
The rally at a glance
Trump’s stop in Mobile was part of a cross-country swing through Republican-leaning states ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. The president held a rally in Durant, Oklahoma, on Thursday and has said he plans to visit 35 locations in the month before Election Day.
Several other Alabama Republicans also spoke before Trump arrived, including U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the party’s nominee for governor; U.S. Rep. Barry Moore, the nominee for Tuberville’s Senate seat; Marques; former U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, the nominee in the 1st Congressional District; Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen; lieutenant governor nominee John Wahl; and attorney general nominee Katherine Robertson.
Not everyone in Mobile was there to cheer. A group of roughly 200 protesters gathered during the day, and Democratic organizers held events of their own. Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the Democratic nominee for governor, held a town hall in Baldwin County while Trump was in Mobile.
Political scientists interviewed before the visit said the choice of Alabama likely had as much to do with image as with electoral math. “President Trump is picking a state where he has got high favorability,” said Benjamin Gross, director of the Center of Leadership and American Principles at Jacksonville State University. Joseph Aistrup, a political science professor at Auburn University, said that in Alabama “the perception is that he is a boost to their campaigns.”
Who is Katie Britt?
Britt was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022, succeeding longtime Sen. Richard Shelby, for whom she had previously served as chief of staff. Before running for office, she led the Business Council of Alabama. She is not on the ballot this year, but she has been an active campaigner for GOP candidates up and down the ticket, including Marques and Moore.
What happens next
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Alabama voters will choose a governor, a lieutenant governor, a U.S. senator and members of the U.S. House, along with a long list of state and local offices.
Voters who want to confirm their registration status, find their polling place or check what is on their ballot can do so through the Alabama Secretary of State’s office or their county board of registrars. Alabama requires voters to show an approved photo ID at the polls.
Update: First Standing Ovation of the Night
Britt’s remarks drew the first standing ovation of the evening, with attendees breaking into chants of “USA! USA! USA!” Britt arrived at the Mitchell Center after attending the groundbreaking for the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway earlier in the day, the largest infrastructure project in state history.
“Let me tell you the difference between Republicans and Democrats on the ballot,” Britt told the crowd. “This year it could not be more stark. Basically, it’s the difference in common sense and crazy.” She closed with a call to action: “Let’s keep the Senate. Let’s keep the House. Let’s keep Alabama red, and let’s keep America great.”
