Trump attempts to exploit Kavanaugh divisions in fresh attack on Montana Democrat ahead of rally in key state

Donald Trump launched a fresh attack on Montana senator Jon Tester, on the eve of his third campaigning visit to the key state ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

The president claimed the Democrat “was in great trouble”, before accusing him of making “vicious and totally false statements about Admiral Ron Jackson”, who was forced to withdraw as Mr Trump’s nominee for secretary of veterans affairs earlier this year.

Mr Trump tweeted that the senator “behaved worse than the Democrat Mob did” over Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination for the Supreme Court was challenged after he was accused by three women of sexual misconduct.

The president’s attempt to draw parallels between the two cases came after Republicans claimed that bitter fight over the judge’s appointment had energised their party’s supporter base.

“In airports, on airplanes, in hotels and in restaurants, I have been approached again and again by people who are glad Republicans stood up for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh and took on the left,” former congressman Newt Gingrich wrote in a column for Fox News this week.

Mr Trump is said to have taken a personal interest in unseating Mr Tester, Montana’s senator since 2007, after he helped to derail Mr Jackson’s appointment by making public claims of alleged misconduct by the nominee in April.

Mr Jackson, the former White House doctor, has denied accusations of drunken behaviour, overprescribing prescription drugs and fostering a hostile work environment.

The president is expected to go on the attack again during a campaign rally for Republican candidate and Trump loyalist Matt Rosendale at Missoula airport.

Montana voters backed Mr Trump by 20 per cent points in the 2016 presidential election. Mr Rosendale, currently the state auditor and insurance commissioner, has staked his campaign on those voters coming out for him in November’s midterms.

He has also sought to link his opponent to the dispute over Mr Kavanaugh, whose confirmation Mr Tester voted against.

”The people across the state have witnessed the tactics of Washington Democrats — which Jon Tester has clearly become a part of — simply trying to smear people and distort facts and maintain power,” the Republican candidate said.

Mr Tester has rejected the claim that he had changed since he took office and said Republicans employed similar strategies during the campaigns that he won in 2006 and 2012.

“In order to beat me you’ve got to make me into something I’m not. And that’s what they’ve done their level best to do,” he said. “Montanans know who I am, they know I’m a lifetime Montanan, they know I understand rural America, they know I understand public lands and not privatising them.”

Huge amounts of money have been spent on both candidates in the race, which could become the most costly in the state’s history. Outside spending already exceeds $25m (£19m).

Additional reporting by agencies