For the second time this week, a presidential candidate is getting heat for who showed up at the rally.

Former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., was spotted in the crowd behind Republican nominee Donald Trump at a rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday evening.


Foley resigned from Congress in 2006 after charges he had sent sexual emails and messages to teenagers serving as congressional pages.

The former Palm Beach County representative said he admires Trump's "energy" and how he has thrown a wrench into politics' business as usual "where everyone has to scrub and has to parse words, check with consultants."

"I've been a friend of Mr. Trump's since 1987. I've admired so much of what he's done. He's a different breed of leader and a different reed of candidate," Foley told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel after the rally.

Foley said he got his seat behind the candidate by arriving early to the event. He said he used to also show up very early to State of the Union addressess in order to get a good seat near the front of the House chamber.


It's not the first time Foley has gone to a Trump event. In March, he saw Trump speak at the billionaire's Mar-a-Lago resort.

Foley was optimistic about Trump's chances of winning the Sunshine State in November, calling southern Florida a "pretty hospitable area for Trump."

Trump chided Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for failing to renounce Seddique Mateen, the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter who attended the Democratic nominee's rally in Florida on Monday.

"She did not disavow and if that were me this would be a headline all around the world. He's got some pretty harsh views," Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity late Tuesday. "It's a whole double standard, but we're punching through it and I think the people understand."

While Omar Mateen's father was not involved in his son's brutal attack on the Pulse Nightclub in June, which killed 49 people and wounded 53 others, he posted a video the day after the mass shooting condemning homosexuality — a stance that differs with Clinton's views.

He is also an ideological supporter of the Afghan Taliban, which harbored Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks.