Slamming Secretary of State John F. Kerry as “a joke,” Donald Trump whipped a crowd of supporters into a froth at a fundraiser at car czar Ernie Boch Jr.’s Norwood manson, where the fiery real estate mogul doubled down on his hardline anti-immigration stance and scorched a CNN reporter.
“John Kerry is a joke. No, he’s a bicyclist,” Trump said of the former Bay State senator. “He’s 73 years old and he’s got a very big (Iran nuclear) deal going on and he goes into a bike race and breaks a leg. The Iranians can’t believe what’s going on.”
Trump also laid into Kerry for not demanding the release of four Americans held hostage in Iran before agreeing to the nuke pact.
“John Kerry and Obama said the reason they didn’t ask for the hostages is because they didn’t want to complicate the deal,” Trump said. “By the way, I wrote ‘The Art of The Deal.’ ”
The event, held at Boch’s sprawling mansion, drew a lively crowd of more than 1,000 Trump supporters, many of whom packed into a small media tent while the Republican front-runner fielded questions from reporters.
“You know a lot of the gangs in St. Louis and Ferguson, a lot of the gangs in Chicago, the toughest and the meanest, the worst dudes ... they’re illegal immigrants,” Trump said to a loud round of applause. “And I tell you one thing, if I get in, they’re going to be gone so fast out of this country.”
Trump, who has made waves in the 2016 presidential race with his controversial comments about illegal immigrants, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, was greeted on the way in by about two dozen pro-choice and immigrants’ rights protesters, which prompted a CNN reporter to ask him for a response.
“I don’t see many protesters, I see thousands of people, and there’s a few protesters and I figured you’d ask that question,” Trump said before asking the woman if she was from CNN. “You people do not cover us accurately at all. We have a few protesters outside and we have thousands of people and the first question from CNN is about protesters.”
Trump also scored points with the locals by weighing in on Deflategate.
“Leave Tom Brady alone!” he said to a raucous ovation. “I know Tom Brady, Tom Brady is an honest guy, he’s a great guy, he’s a great champion and winner. Leave him alone!”
Among the protesters waving signs outside was Patricia Montes of Centro Presente, who said she felt Trump’s comments on immigration were directly responsible for the savage attack on a homeless Hispanic man in Boston earlier this month.
“He’s responsible because of the hate and sentiment he’s been spreading,” Montes said. “It’s because of him and his supporters — like the people attending this party.”
But the chants of the protesters didn’t put a damper on the festivities.
“This is such a great, incredible group of people,” Trump told the cheering, chanting, sign-wavers under a big-top-sized tent in Boch’s backyard. “Something is happening. There’s a movement going on. Call it the silent majority. Call it whatever you want, but there’s a movement going on ... I love you all!”
