The president pulled a printed copy of the Fox News story out of his jacket and read it to the cheering crowd.

"I don't know if you saw, I'm coming off the plane and they hand me — look at this character — they just hand me this story," he said, referring to Mark S. Zaid, the attorney representing the so-called "whistleblower" in the impeachment inquiry against the president.

"Coup has started. First of many steps," Zaid wrote. "Rebellion, Impeachment will follow ultimately."

Trump called Zaid a "sleazeball" and read another post on Twitter from the lawyer predicting that "CNN will play a key role in Donald Trump not finishing out his first term."

"It's all a hoax, it's a scam, and you know who helps them, these people, the media," Trump said, pointing to the back of the hall, as the crowd booed.

Zaid's repeated calls for the president to get impeached demonstrate his partisan agenda, even prior to the complaint from the so-called "whistleblower"