Trump continues red-state campaign push with days until midterms
The president made his fourth campaign season trip to Texas.
President Donald Trump is barnstorming deep-red states across the country to defend GOP majorities in Congress as Democrats make inroads in some unlikely places.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the president has made 20 stops to states he handily won and six to battlegrounds since Sept. 9, according to ABC News tracking. Those include four in Texas, two in Ohio, two in Tennessee, and visits to states that for some observers may be surprising: Oklahoma, Kentucky and Alabama.
The president made his fourth campaign season trip to Texas -- a state he won in three presidential elections -- on Tuesday, where he is attending two rallies; Vice President JD Vance will be in Texas for a rally later this week. Trump's Tuesday trip and Vance's upcoming one means the president and vice president will have visited Texas -- typically reliably red -- eight times since Labor Day weekend.
An early OctoberReconMR pollfound that among likely Texas voters, Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico had 48% support while Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton had 44% support, within the poll's margin of error.
Trump's red-state travels come with just days until the high-stakes midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake.
As Democratic candidates largely center their campaigns around affordability and ending the Iran war, they are fending off attacks from Republicans, largely on taxes, culture war and transgender issues. At the same time, Republicans are calling on the president and his Cabinet officials to heed voter economic concerns.
As Republicans look to shore up support among the MAGA faithful, Trump's approval ratings have suffered. His approval rating recently reached a record low of 33% in the ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll. About 7 in 10 Americans say that gas is unaffordable and that the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to the same poll.
On Monday, Trump hit the campaign trail in Mississippi, where no Democrat has been elected to the U.S. Senate since 1982. Trump carried the state by a 23-point margin in the 2024 presidential election. GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is defending her seat against Democrat and district attorney Scott Colom.
"A lot of folks ain't gonna be able to make this rally because they can't afford the gas to get up here," Colom said at a press conference in Corinth ahead of Trump's rally in the city.
Trump said on Monday that he was supporting Hyde-Smith in the state because he "can't take a chance."
"I can't take a chance. She's got no problem. The only problem is sometimes, and this happens, and sometimes when you think somebody's doing so well, nobody wants – they all stay home," Trump said -- later adding "so that's why I'm here."
Last week, Trump campaigned in Kansas for Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, who is fighting in what ABC News is rating a toss-up race for reelection against Democrat Rev. Adam Hamilton. Vance stumped for the one-term incumbent in September and again on Monday.
Hamilton could break a 94-year losing streak for Democrats -- he is split even with Marshall among likely Kansas voters,according to aSeptemberNew York Times/Siena University poll.
Trump is headed back to Kansas on Saturday in Salina, where he will need to run up the score in a county he carried by more than 30 points in 2024.
Several Republicans -- including Trump, Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Speaker Mike Johnson -- have visited Wisconsin's closely watched 3rd Congressional District, where Democrat Rebecca Cooke is facing off against GOP incumbent Rep. Derrick Van Orden. ABC News recently shifted its rating from "toss-up" to "lean Democrat."
Trump surrogates are also flocking to Iowa, a state Trump won in the last three presidential elections. The president has already paid a visit to Sioux City and will headline a rally in Dubuque just two days before the midterms.
Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Josh Turek, a state lawmaker, is running against Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson to succeed outgoing GOP Sen. Joni Ernst.
Hinson has praised the president but also sought to distance herself at times and recently called for an end to the Iran war.
But Turek told ABC News it is "good" for Trump to see how healthcare funding cuts and tariffs have affected Iowans.
"I think that the war in Iran has hurt Iowa more than any other state," Turek said.
Kennedy is stumping for Iowa Republican gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn on Wednesday. Johnson is headlining a rally for GOP incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn in the state's 3rd Congressional District that same day.
At least nine cabinet members visited Iowa in August, underscoring just how competitive the House races, open Senate and governor races have become.
ABCNews' Oren Oppenheim contributed to thisreport.
