Key takeaways:
- The Republican National Committee said Trump would hold tele-rallies during a 72-hour push, with calls planned for nearly 20 states.
- Trump said he felt “perfect” and rejected a question about whether his health prompted the Kansas cancellation.
- Trump remained scheduled to campaign Friday in Daytona Beach, Florida; no Monday events had been announced.
President Donald Trump has canceled weekend campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa, replacing them with phone events for Republican candidates as the midterm elections approach. The change cuts short a stretch of in-person campaigning that Trump had said would take him to 35 locations nationwide.
The Republican National Committee said Trump would spend a “72-hour sprint” holding tele-rallies to reach voters across the country. It said calls were planned for nearly 20 states, with more possible. Two White House officials told NBC News that Trump aims to hold more than 20 tele-rallies by Election Day.
Trump had held 25 rallies in the past month, according to NBC News. He has repeatedly argued that his appearances help Republican candidates and boost them in polls. But after canceling the Kansas event, he said he did not “feel I have to go to Kansas” and said Republican Sen. Roger Marshall “is doing well.” Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton in a race that NBC News described as a toss-up, with concerns about the high costs of the war in Iran weighing on the contest. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in nearly a century, NBC News reported.
Trump rejected a suggestion that his health was behind the Kansas cancellation. “You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell,” he told a journalist who pressed him on the issue, according to NBC News. The Guardian reported that Trump also told a Reuters reporter who asked about the cancellation, “You’re sick to ask that question.”
Earlier in the week, Trump acknowledged the demands of his campaign schedule. Speaking with a hoarse voice on Monday, he said the run of rallies had not been “easy,” adding: “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”
The Iowa cancellation followed hours after the exchange with the journalist, NBC News reported. Trump had been scheduled to campaign Saturday in Dubuque, in the state’s contested 2nd Congressional District. Republican operatives in Iowa told NBC News they would have welcomed an in-person visit, though they expected a tele-rally to help turnout. “A tele-rally will be helpful in boosting turnout, but an in-person rally would have been really helpful,” one operative said. Another said he “would love to have the president,” but added, “Iowa’s in pretty good shape.”
Trump remained scheduled to appear Friday in Daytona Beach, Florida, for Republican Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Ashley Moody. Their races are rated solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, NBC News reported. No events had been announced for Monday.
The shift comes as Republicans face tight contests in several states, including Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio and Alaska, according to The Guardian. Trump visited South Carolina on Wednesday for the second time in a month as Republican Darline Graham faced a challenge from Democrat Annie Andrews for a Senate seat, the newspaper reported.
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