President Donald Trump has been in a “foul mood” while on the road as he attempts to bolster support for Republicans ahead of the midterms, according to an insider.
Some of Trump’s advisers told The Washington Post that campaign-style rallies are the most effective tool at the president’s disposal, aside from lowering gas prices, in an effort to minimize GOP losses in the November 3 elections.
But while one adviser said the president has at times been in “high spirits,” another person with knowledge of his behavior told the newspaper of the president’s bad mood on the campaign trail.
The outlet noted that rallies are “now often held in smaller venues than in years past,” despite the president’s assertion that his events result in crowd overflows in each town he visits. There are logistical factors too, as the president reportedly does not like to stay anywhere overnight, with the exception being his own hotels or properties.
Still, the rallies serve as “an escape” for the president amid his deeply unpopular war in Iran and his low approval ratings, the outlet reports.
“It’s the last time he’s really going to be able to do this in full force,” pollster Mark Mitchell, a former Trump supporter, told the Post. “A 30-day blitz of the country to do these rallies again when he’s the most unpopular president — it just doesn’t really make sense.”
The president, who has visited 14 states since Labor Day, signs off on the list of places he visits each week, according to the outlet. He is scheduled to visit Youngstown, Ohio, the GOP stronghold of Wasilla, Alaska, and the heavily Republican Bullshead City in Arizona this week.
Trump said he “loves” being on the campaign trail, and has dismissed reports of smaller crowds and empty seats.
“I love them, the music, and the incredible enthusiasm, and will always be in favor of what’s good for America—and that means the Republican Party,” he recently said of his rallies. “There are no empty seats, there haven’t been for years, and there never will be. The Rallies are ‘HOTTER’ than ever,” he said in another Truth Social post.
Rallying in places where Trump’s supporters voted for him three times gives the Republicans the best chance to encourage them to vote in November, when the president is not on the ballot, GOP officials told the newspaper.
Trump appeared to acknowledge this in Tennessee over the weekend, where he told a crowd of his most loyal MAGA supporters that he could “say the stupidest things” and they’d still clap.
“What am I doing in Tennessee?” Trump asked the crowd. “I don’t have to campaign here. I’ve won your state by many, many, many points. Some ridiculous number. All the time.”
“It’s like, like, I mean, it’s amazing. When you stand up here, it’s like, the love,” Trump continued. “I could say the stupidest things, and you’d clap. ‘Oh, I love you so — it’s true.”
But trying to determine where he can be most useful has proved difficult in House races, where some are so close that Republicans worry the president could hurt their campaigns.
Two-thirds of Republican candidates running for the House and Senate have broken with Trump on key policy matters or sought to minimize their associations with him, according to Reuters analysis.
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