President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is canceling his rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend, where he had been set to stump for GOP candidates in competitive races, opting instead to do tele-rallies.
The rallies were to have been part of his planned midterm blitz, in which he said he would travel to 35 places across the country to help raise turnout for Republican candidates.
Trump has repeatedly touted what he believes is the positive impact of his rallies on GOP candidates, going as far as to suggest that his presence in battleground states has boosted Republicans in the polls.
But his tune appeared to change Thursday after his cancellations. Trump said he didn’t “feel I have to go to Kansas,” adding that he thinks Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who’s locked in a tight race with Democrat Adam Hamilton, “is doing well.”
Concerns over high costs connected to the war in Iran have helped turn the race into a toss-up in a state that hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate for nearly a century.
Trump, who has campaigned at 25 rallies in the past month, has admitted that the blitz has not been “easy,” saying through a hoarse voice Monday that “God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day.”
But he insisted Thursday that he felt “perfect” and lashed out at a reporter who pressed him about whether the rally cancellation in Kansas was tied to his health.
“You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect. You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell,” Trump said to the journalist.
He canceled in Iowa hours after that interaction, after a White House official and a person familiar confirmed that Trump’s appearance was off.
The Republican National Committee said in a news release that the rallies were canceled with the goal of “maximizing opportunities for President Donald J. Trump to speak to voters across the country.”
GOP operatives in Iowa, where all congressional races this year except one are competitive, told NBC News that in-person rallies would have been helpful. Trump’s rally Saturday would have been in Dubuque, in the contested 2nd Congressional District.
“A tele-rally will be helpful in boosting turnout, but an in-person rally would have been really helpful,” an operative said.
Another operative said he “would love to have the president,” but he said, “Iowa’s in pretty good shape.”
Trump is aiming to hold “more than 20” tele-rallies by Election Day, two White House officials said Thursday.
He is still scheduled to hold an event in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday. He will be campaigning for Republican Rep. Randy Fine and Sen. Ashley Moody, who are running in races rated solidly Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
No events have been announced for Monday.
