Benghazi panel chairman Gowdy visits Kalispell

Speaking at a campaign rally alongside one of Hillary Clinton’s foremost critics on Tuesday, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke offered sharp criticism of the Democratic presidential nominee while acknowledging his party’s struggle to present a consistent representation of its principles to voters.

“We need to convince the rest of Montana that we’re on the right track,” he told the standing room-only crowd in Majestic Valley Arena’s pavillion.

Montana’s only member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Zinke faces Democrat Denise Juneau as he campaigns for a second term.

Born and raised in Whitefish, the former Navy SEAL commander had a receptive audience Tuesday afternoon as he kicked off a four-stop campaign tour with Rep. Trey Gowdy, the South Carolina Republican well-known for his role as the chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi.

Gowdy praised his colleague’s more than two decades in the armed services and drew laughter and applause from the audience with repeated denunciations of Clinton.

But he also asked the Republican supporters in the room to focus on messaging in the next three months as they work to convince other Montanans to support their candidates on election day.

Gowdy suggested the party needs to find new ways to appeal to potential voters, noting that in five of the past six presidential elections, the Republican nominee has lost the nationwide popular vote.

“If that was your district attorney, you’d fire him. If that was your cardiologist, you’d be dead,” he said, adding later, “We know we’ve got to work on the way we communicate.”

Making the case for Zinke’s re-election, Gowdy recalled a conversation with the freshman representative, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, about a military policy issue.

Zinke had responded by explaining his views on the issue, Gowdy said, “but he gave me an equally great explanation of why I might consider voting the other way.”

He also noted Zinke’s long-held support for the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, adding that the freedom comes with a significant level of responsibility when exercising it.

Similarly, he said the right to free speech still obligates the speaker to a certain level of decency, asking that politicians dispense with hypocrisies and insults.

If re-elected, Zinke promised he would continue fighting to secure the nation’s borders against illegal immigrants, uphold the Constitution and reform management of federal forest lands. Responding to Democrats’ claims that he had voted to open the door to transferring the federal government’s inventory of public lands to the states, he said, “I don’t think we should transfer it, I don’t think we should sell it, but we should manage it better.”

He also stressed the importance of speaking the truth, rattling off a list of Clinton’s scandals stretching back to her tenure as first lady.

A long-time critic of Clinton, Zinke officially endorsed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in May. Last week, however, he chided the businessman for his verbal sparring with the family of a Muslim soldier killed in Iraq.

In a statement posted to his campaign website Aug. 2, he asked both presidential campaigns to refrain from bringing military families into the political fray.

“Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton should swallow their pride and apologize to the families and service members they have offended,” the statement read.

In an interview after the rally, Zinke again accused the former secretary of state of telling “lie after lie after lie” and said Americans have grown disgusted with the current political discourse. But he also included the GOP nominee in his concerns about the party’s ability to communicate effectively with voters.

“I’ve never been a fan of Hillary’s,” Zinke said. “But Mr. Trump has got to show discipline. He’s got good policies, but a big mouth.”

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.