Who Is Tina Smith? Minnesota Democratic Senator Responds To Trump's Comments

President Donald Trump slammed Democratic Senator Tina Smith after he took to the stage in downtown Rochester, Minnesota, on Thursday evening saying he does not know who she is. Trump's comments came as he made fun of former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minnesota and said he "folded like a wet rag" following accusations of sexual assault.

While encouraging the crowd to vote for Republican candidate Karin Housley, who was running against Smith, Trump took the shots at Franken.

"I don't want to mention Al Franken's name, OK, so I won't. He was gone — he was gone so fast. It was like, 'Oh, he did something.' 'Oh, I resign. I quit. I quit,'" said Trump. "He was gone and he was replaced with somebody that nobody'd every heard of. Her name was Tina Smith. Honestly, you know I do this stuff for a living and I'm not sure I ever heard of her, and I need her vote."

In response to Trump's comments, Smith took to her Twitter account saying: "Hey there, @realdonaldtrump. Tina here. Wanted to let you know that I will ALWAYS stand up for Minnesotans in the Senate. Unlike my opponent, who literally said in an interview yesterday she will be your 'rubber stamp' - even when it hurts Minnesota."

Trump later called Housley to the stage, where she told the crowd Trump talked about her Democratic opponent more than he name-dropped her.

"He said Tina Smith way too many times. We need to say Karin Housley a lot more," Housley said.

Smith received support from several people on Thursday including Elizabeth Warren, who wrote on Twitter: "I know @TinaSmithMN is a fighter. She won’t be bullied by anyone – least of all by @realDonaldTrump."

Smith is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), an affiliate of the Democratic Party. She was born March 4, 1958, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and moved to Minnesota in 1984 for a marketing job at General Mills and later started her own marketing firm.

After Minnesota's Sen. Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash weeks before the 2002 election, Smith managed former Vice President Walter Mondale's campaign for the seat.

Smith had also worked as the vice president of external affairs at Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. She later served as chief of staff to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak in 2006.

"I consider myself lucky to be a Minnesotan by choice. I was born and raised in New Mexico, where my parents taught me about the value and responsibility of giving back to my community. My husband Archie and I first came to Minnesota 34 years ago, when I started a marketing job at General Mills. We rolled into Minnesota in an old, beat-up, orange car with a busted defroster, which meant we had to keep the windows rolled down even when it was 20 below. Yep, that was us," she wrote on her website.