Trump cancels rallies, switches to remote midterm campaigning

President Donald Trump cancelled appearances in Kansas and Iowa for the closing days of the midterm election season, and will instead hold “a large number of tele-rallies,” the Republican National Committee announced on Thursday evening.

The president has been campaigning nonstop — chiefly in states where Republicans are usually assured of victory — but this year faces robust challenges from Democratic candidates who have taken advantage of voter discontent over rising costs as well as the war in Iran.

Trump, who headlined two rallies in Texas on Wednesday alone, earlier Thursday returned to South Carolina for another campaign event with Senator Darline Graham, whose race has been shifted to “toss-up” by Fox News.

The RNC said in a press release that Trump would hold “a large number of tele-rallies, which can reach more voters in the limited time left before polls close” instead of appearing in person.

A rally planned in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday has “been moved to a huge tele-rally,” the committee said in another release, adding that Trump would hold almost 20 such events for candidates in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan. He has one scheduled for Monday to support Louisiana’s Republican US Senate candidate.

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More than two years after winning back the presidency and bringing new voters into the Republican fold, Trump and his party have spent much of this election year on the defensive. Although he promised to lower prices, Americans find themselves paying more for food, health care and mortgages.

After the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, Trump said that the war would end in a swift triumph. Eight months later, the conflict remains unresolved after spreading to other parts of the Middle East. And though the combat remains far away, its effect on fuel prices, particularly diesel, can be seen at every service station.

While Trump’s presence might help Republicans locked in tight races in friendly territory, he could be a drag in other red states, especially in the Midwest, where high fuel and fertiliser prices as well as the president’s tariff agenda have hit farmers.

Trump earlier Thursday told reporters that a weekend event in Kansas to support Senator Roger Marshall had been scrapped because Marshall was “doing well” and that he would hold a tele-rally instead. Trump, 80, berated a reporter who asked whether the choice was made because he was sick of travelling and asserted that his health is “very good.”

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In South Carolina, the Senate race is still rated as “lean Republican” by the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Yet Fox’s decision to move South Carolina to the toss-up category adds new urgency and has already drawn national attention. Both Graham and her Democratic opponent, physician Annie Andrews, have about 48% support, Fox said Thursday, citing a recent New York Times/Siena University poll.

Graham, like Trump allies Michael Whatley in North Carolina and Mike Collins of Georgia, has been unable to create a distinct brand separate from the president in a year in which his popularity is sinking.

Trump handpicked her to succeed her brother, Senator Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly earlier this year. He campaigned for her in a primary against Representative Ralph Norman, who has refused to campaign for Graham in the general election.

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