October 12, 2024, presidential campaign news | CNN Politics

Former President Donald Trump launched into a deeply personal attack of Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff during his campaign rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday, calling the Democratic Senate nominee names and mocking his physical appearance.

The comments followed an extended riff in which Trump defended his praise of Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he called a “brilliant” leader who rules “with an iron fist.”

“The worst people are the enemies from within, the sleazebags like the guy that you’re going to elect to the Senate, shifty Adam Schiff,” Trump said.

The former president suggested without evidence that Schiff would win because of voter fraud and called the California Democrat a “low life,” a “sick puppy” and “one of the least attractive human beings I think I’ve ever seen.”

Schiff brushed off the comments in a social media post.

“Yet another nonsensical rant about me filled with tired insults, lies about voting booths, and more, this time in my home state of California,” he wrote in a post on X. “Seriously, Donald. Why are you so obsessed with me?”

Some background: The animosity between the former president and the California Democrat dates to the early days of Trump’s presidency. Schiff has been one of the former president’s most vocal critics in Congress and served as the House impeachment manager during Trump’s first trial.

Schiff, who represents a House district in Los Angeles County, is running to fill the remainder of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s term in the Senate and a full six-year term in the upper chamber. He is running against former baseball star Steve Garvey, a Republican.

Schiff is heavily favored to win based on polling, fundraising and the state’s voting history. Republicans have not won statewide in California since 2006.

California’s blue voting habits didn’t stop Trump from campaigning in the state, however. The former president has taken a detour from campaigning in battleground states to hold events in Democratic strongholds such as Colorado, where he held a rally Friday, and California’s Coachella Valley. Trump will also campaign in New York later this month.