Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans facing tight midterm races to run on his record and pledged to join them on the campaign trail, speaking to lawmakers at a dinner in the White House Rose Garden. He made the appeal despite his sagging popularity and promised to campaign in all of the roughly three dozen contests likely to determine control of Congress, PBS NewsHour reported.
What was his message? Trump told the party's most vulnerable lawmakers they had a triumphant story to tell voters, talking up economic investment in the United States and lower drug prices, with figures that PBS NewsHour reported were significantly inflated, as well as diminished border crossings. "All you have to do is talk about it, and you're going to win and you're going to win big," he said, a week before the party gathers in Dallas for an unusual midterm convention. The audience listened quietly, occasionally applauding as many sipped cocktails ahead of dinner.
Which races did he single out? Control of Congress will come down to about 35 races, Trump said, pledging to spend the 30 days before the election campaigning hard in those battlegrounds. "I'm going to go to every one of those 35 places, and we're going to see if we can get everyone elected," he said, adding that his focus would be on House and Senate races. He named Senate races in Alaska, where Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan faces Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola, and Texas, where Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton is running against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. On Monday, Trump, who backed Paxton in this year's primary, poked fun at Paxton's style of dress and campaign-trail presence. "You might not love his look. You might not love his television interviews," he said. "But he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps."
What headwinds do Republicans face? Voters' dim views of the economy and the war in Iran have put Republicans in a tough spot as the midterm season enters its final stretch, PBS NewsHour reported. Trump cast the party's struggles as a pattern virtually all modern presidents have faced. "Whether you're a good president or a great president, you lose the midterms," he said. "We're going to turn that around because there's no reason for it."
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
