Drew Angerer/Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the Dow Chemical Hangar, December 9, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Trump is in Louisiana to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Kennedy.
Speaking in Louisiana at a rally for US Senate candidate John Kennedy, Trump took aim at the so-called Never Trump movement, characterizing its members as on "a respirator right now."
"They are gasping," he told the crowd. "They are gasping for air."
Boasting about defeating the Never Trump movement has been a favorite for the president-elect at his events. He previously did so at the Republican National Convention over the summer and has repeatedly noted that his detractors were wrong to predict he could never win the election.
At the Friday afternoon rally, Trump also said he is a "big believer in free speech" but wanted to outlaw the burning of the American flag, an act the US Supreme Court ruled is protected by the Constitution.
"We are going to be putting something in" to prevent flag burning, Trump nevertheless said.
The president-elect also attacked the media, noting he had played a role in reducing the trust Americans have in the press.
"The one thing we have done is we have exposed the credibility of the press," he said, adding that journalists have "the lowest credibility."
Trump was scheduled to be in Michigan on Friday evening for another leg of his "Thank You Tour."