With the midterm elections just days away, President Donald Trump has scrapped his weekend rallies in Iowa and Kansas, two states where Republicans are fighting to hold on to Senate seats in races now considered toss-ups.
Instead of appearing in person, Trump will phone it in. The Republican National Committee said he will spend the final stretch doing telerallies, which it said would let him reach voters in nearly two dozen states. Two White House officials told NBC News that Trump is aiming to hold “more than 20” telerallies by Election Day on November 3.
A blitz that fell short
The cancellations mark an abrupt shift from Trump’s promise to push through the final days of the campaign with rally after rally. NBC News reported that he had planned to travel to 35 places across the country to drive Republican turnout. As of Thursday, The Guardian reported, he had held 25 rallies in October, short of a goal he once put above 30.
Trump has admitted the pace hasn’t been easy. Speaking in a hoarse voice on Monday, he said, “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”
“You look like hell”
On Thursday, Trump insisted he felt “perfect” and lashed out at a reporter who asked whether the Kansas cancellation had anything to do with his health.
“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell,” Trump said, according to NBC News.
Hours after that exchange, his Iowa appearance was called off too.
Why Kansas and Iowa matter
Trump had been scheduled to rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall is locked in a close race with Democrat Adam Hamilton and has trailed in some polls, according to The Washington Post. NBC News noted that Kansas hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, and that concerns over high costs connected to the Iran war have helped make the race a toss-up.
Trump said he didn’t “feel I have to go to Kansas,” adding that he thinks Marshall “is doing well.”
In Iowa, the canceled rally would have been in Dubuque, in the contested 2nd Congressional District. GOP operatives there told NBC News that an in-person visit would have helped. “A tele-rally will be helpful in boosting turnout, but an in-person rally would have been really helpful,” one said.
Still going to Florida
Trump is still scheduled to hold an event in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday, campaigning for Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Ashley Moody. NBC News noted both are running in races the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates as solidly Republican.
The Washington Post reported that the GOP has been scrambling to drum up enthusiasm among its base as Trump and Republican candidates face poor approval ratings among swing voters. Meanwhile, an Associated Press analysis found early voting is running well ahead of the 2022 midterms, with especially sharp increases in states hosting competitive Senate races.
With four days to go, the question is whether a phone call can do what a rally was supposed to.