Trump’s final midterm rallies pivot to nostalgia and personal pleas
After 25 October events, the president is urging supporters to treat candidates as proxies for his own agenda while facing a grueling two-hour speaking schedule.
By Takeshi Faure ·
President Donald Trump has shifted his final midterm campaign stops toward a farewell tone, asking supporters to treat the November 3 vote as a referendum on his administration. This approach marks a departure from standard partisan campaigning, where candidates usually stand on their own records. Instead, the president is framing the race as a fight to preserve his policy legacy.
Trump has held more than 25 rallies in October, mostly in red states where Republican candidates face political headwinds. He personally selected the Senate candidates he is promoting: Darline Graham in South Carolina and Michael Whatley in North Carolina. In a speech in Greenville, North Carolina, he asked voters to pretend he is on the ballot because opponents seek to undo his tax cuts and border policies.
The president’s speeches have become longer and more personal. He typically speaks for nearly two hours, a duration he described as difficult. In the Oval Office, he acknowledged the physical toll, noting that there is a lot of love in the rooms but that the performance is exhausting. He joked that his voice is operating at about 49.2% capacity after 28 consecutive days of campaigning.
Trump is relying on familiar themes to energize his base. He frequently references tariffs, which he called his favorite word, though he later revised this ranking to fifth. He has also introduced new material, such as a running joke about Ohio Senator Jon Husted’s physique. He claimed that Husted’s numbers improved by 12 points on days he made the joke, a statistic he cited despite contrary evidence.
The rallies have drawn devoted fans who have altered their schedules to attend. Blake Marnell, a San Diego resident known as Mr. Wall, took October off work to travel from event to event. He described the rallies as a personal passion, comparable to a cruise. Cindy New from Emerald Isle, North Carolina, said she attended the Greenville rally for the first time because she knew these might be her last chances to see him in person before the 2028 election.
Scheduling changes in the final days of the campaign have added to the logistical complexity. The Republican National Committee announced on Thursday that Trump would cancel in-person rallies in Iowa and Kansas in favor of tele-rallies. Less than 24 hours later, the decision was reversed, and both events were reinstated for Sunday. A source familiar with the change said the president loves his supporters and would hold back-to-back rallies in the two states.
The financial stakes of the election include a promised $5,000 dividend for American adults if Republicans win both chambers of Congress. Trump addressed this promise with a joke at a recent rally, noting that $5,000 might only buy a hamburger and a small dessert at Mar-a-Lago. He used the quip to acknowledge that his Florida resort is not a destination for the cost-conscious, a nod to the affordability concerns that dominate the current election cycle.
