WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump insisted on Friday that Republicans “have a shot” at success in the US midterm elections, despite a feverish final stretch of campaigning ahead of a vote that will determine control of Congress.
Trump reversed course and reinstated two rallies in Kansas and Iowa a day after cancelling them, a move that had raised questions about his health and the state of the race.
“There’s such love in these all over the country,” Trump said, referring to his rallies, before launching a series of insults against Democratic candidates vying for House and Senate seats in the Nov 3 elections.
Speaking to a crowd in Daytona, Florida, late on Friday, Trump said the rallies were being held “for one very simple reason: to stop America-hating communists from taking over the United States Congress”.
Trump reiterated his promise to give every adult American citizen US$5,000 if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress. Experts have questioned whether he has the legal authority to do so.
Earlier in the day, Trump acknowledged to reporters that the parties of sitting presidents often suffer losses in midterm elections.
“I think we have a shot at doing well. Maybe very well, but you know, pretty well,” he added.
Trump said he had cancelled the two events to hold virtual rallies, but Republicans in Iowa and Kansas had called him and said “if you could go, it would be better than a tele-rally”.
However, the 80-year-old’s comments offered little indication of confidence in Republican prospects in Tuesday’s vote.
I feel perfect
Republicans are defending their 53-47 majority in the Senate, while Democrats are seeking to capture at least one chamber of Congress and curb Trump’s legislative agenda during his final two years in office.
Trump has placed himself at the centre of the Republicans’ midterm strategy, hoping to energise his MAGA (Make America Great Again) base.
However, his low approval ratings and public anger over the Iran war and the cost of living could weigh on Republican prospects.
Trump, who complained of losing his voice earlier this week, lashed out on Thursday when asked whether he was scrapping the Kansas trip because he was “sick of travelling”.
“I feel perfect,” Trump snapped, saying he no longer needed to visit Kansas because Republican Senator Roger Marshall was “doing very well”.
However, political strategist Mike Fahey told AFP that Trump’s change of heart was likely prompted by questions about the energy levels of the oldest person ever elected US president.
“My suspicion is that Trump didn’t particularly like that narrative, and putting the events back on the calendar was the fastest way to kill it,” said Fahey, a veteran of multiple election campaigns.
Both Kansas and Iowa voted comfortably for Trump in 2024, but have emerged as unexpected battlegrounds for Republicans.
Pope Leo votes
A record 47.9 million Americans have already voted in the US midterm elections, with turnout surging in key battleground states and registered Democrats outpacing Republicans, figures showed on Friday.
The increase was particularly pronounced in states with fiercely contested Senate races.
Among those who have voted early is Pope Leo XIV, the Catholic Church’s first US-born pontiff. It is believed to be the first time a pope has voted in a political election.
The head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who has clashed with Trump, submitted his mail-in ballot in Chicago, the Vatican said on Friday.
Trump has urged Republicans to “pretend I’m on the ballot” in the midterms, pointing to his presidential election victories in 2016 and 2024, which largely defied opinion polls.
He has stepped up his rhetoric against migrants, Muslims and transgender people.
Trump has also repeatedly warned that he would face a third impeachment if Republicans lose, although Democrats may be more likely to focus on the 2028 presidential election.
Democrats, meanwhile, fear Trump will not accept a Republican defeat in the midterms, as he did not accept his loss in the 2020 presidential election, particularly after recently renewing claims of voter fraud.
“We had a rigged election in 2020. We cannot ever let that happen again,” Trump said in an interview with KCMO radio in Kansas City.
Around the time Trump was speaking in Florida late on Friday, a federal court in California temporarily blocked US justice officials from intimidating local election officials as the Justice Department issued directives concerning the processing of ballots.
