At Kansas rally, Trump defends Marshall’s record, calls Hamilton a ‘disgrace’ • Kansas Reflector

PARK CITY — President Donald Trump on Monday defended U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall’s record and blamed judges and state law for the senator’s practice of suing patients with medical debt — which led to the arrests of some of them — while he was a doctor.

The president campaigned for Marshall and other Republican candidates during a visit to Kansas, between Alaska and the Carolinas. Marshall is running for office against a Kansas City-area megachurch pastor, Rev. Adam Hamilton, who is a Democrat. David Graham, a libertarian from Overland Park, is also in the race.

Trump spent the first 20 minutes of his roughly hour-and-40-minute speech barely mentioning Kansas, Marshall or Hamilton, taking a few moments to call Marshall’s primary opponent a “bad person” and a “disgrace” while focusing on the Michigan Senate race and condemning other Senate Democrats. Throughout his speech, protesters interrupted him at least five times as Trump reiterated Republican priorities heading into the midterm elections: secure borders, a stronger military and lower costs.

He announced a “crop fuel relief” program, promising to offset diesel fuel prices for farmers, which have topped $6 a gallon in Kansas in recent weeks.

Trump launched into a tour across the United States Earlier this month, he visited traditionally Republican-leaning states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections. His stop in Kansas was his first since 2018, and the first time a sitting president visited the Wichita area in 20 years.

He called Marshall “one of our country’s greatest senators” and warned attendees about the perceived consequences of the Democrats’ victory in the midterm elections, including economic depression.

But if the Republicans win, he said, “I’ll give you money.” »

Trump has repeated since September the promise of $5,000 in cash for every adult in the United States if Republicans win the midterm elections to maintain control of the U.S. House and Senate.

He said Marshall is a “tough guy” and “high quality.” He said Marshall was “criticized” for his practice of pursuing and seeking arrest warrants for people who owed him medical debts when he was a doctor in central Kansas.

Trump blamed the arrests on a judge and the law, not Marshall.

“He didn’t do it,” Trump said.

“You screwed yourself over with that,” he told Marshall

He called Hamilton a “radical left” and a “crazy man” who “pretends to be a moderate.”

Trump was preceded on stage by seven Kansas officials running for public office in November, including Marshall and rock musician and hunting enthusiast Ted Nugent. By the time the president took the stage, the roughly 6,000 seats at Heartland Credit Union Arena on the outskirts of Wichita were about two-thirds full.

Between speeches, a playlist of hits from another century played and queues stretched above the stadium seats in an arena that typically hosts mid-sized music and sporting events.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Missouri, and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick were also in attendance.

Marshall, in his speech to Trump, focused largely on his opponent. He criticized Hamilton’s positions on immigration and said Hamilton was “the most radical liberal Democrat to ever win a Senate primary in Kansas history.”

Hamilton faced 10 other Democratic candidates in the August primary election.

Tyson Brody, a spokesman for Hamilton’s campaign, said Monday’s rally was a sign of Marshall’s sinking campaign and Washington’s panic.

“They’re sending reinforcements to lie and attack Adam Hamilton to try to save Marshall,” Brody said. “But nothing said at the rally can distract from the fact that Kansans are being crushed by rising gas and diesel prices, struggling to access affordable health care, and are tired of corruption in Washington.”

Marshall said that if Republicans lost the U.S. Senate race in Kansas, he feared that longtime Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Cory Booker of New Jersey would control the U.S. Senate.

“The mainstream media wants to make this race so complicated,” Marshall said.

National media and pundits have turned their attention to Kansas in recent weeks as Hamilton’s personal fundraising has outpaced Marshall’s, and outside groups have begun flooding Kansas markets with ads targeted to both sides of the aisle.

vice-president JD Vance visited Kansas in Septemberhighlighting Marshall’s personal and professional achievements.

Participants responded to Trump’s arguments on immigration, transgender issues and the economy.

“I think this is a very important election,” said Karen Malone of Manhattan, a little more than two hours from Park City.

“If we want to maintain our values ​​in our country, we must vote, be enthusiastic about voting and listen to what our politicians have to say,” she added.

Malone said she doesn’t think of Marshall the same way she thinks of Trump. She said she would still vote for him, even though he isn’t the best Republicans have to offer, and that she wishes he would speak out more. He presents himself well on television news, she said, but doesn’t speak enough about Kansas’ rural needs.

Donna and Tom McLain traveled about two and a half hours from Lenexa to see Trump. They said they voted for Marshall six years ago and plan to vote for him again. They said they were not bothered by reports of its aggressive medical debt collection practices and written record in Floridawhere until recently he had a second home.

“It’s politics,” Donna McLain said. “The same can be said of his opponent.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, before Trump’s visit to Kansas, expressed support for Marshall and called Hamilton a “pedophile protector,” referring to a Hamilton church volunteer who in 2005 and 2006 inappropriately touched underage boys at a youth camp.

Trump and Marshall also spoke about the incident.

In Kansas, Reflector reports are published in May And July Regarding allegations of abuse involving 25,000 members of the Church of the Resurrection, Hamilton said two church employees conducted an internal investigation into the allegations that emerged in 2005. The investigation was inconclusive because the children could not identify the perpetrator, and the volunteer, Scott Moore, was kicked out of the church in 2006, when the matter was also turned over to police. Moore died in 2015.

“President Trump and Roger Marshall are working together to lower taxes, protect communities and level the playing field for farmers,” said Samantha Cantrell, regional press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Hamilton said in a video posted Monday that people who voted for Trump had a place in Hamilton’s campaign. He stressed his willingness to work with the president.

“When the president does something good for Kansas, I stand with him and say it. When a decision in Washington hurts our farmers, our rural hospitals or our wages, I stand up with Washington and say it too. Some days we will agree. Some days we won’t,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton and Marshall are scheduled to participate in a televised debate on Wednesday, from which Graham, the Libertarian candidate, has been excluded.

Graham said in an emailed statement that Trump’s visit Monday was evidence of a close race.

“My electorate percentage is greater than the difference between my two opponents,” Graham said. “Most of my support comes from voters who simply cannot vote for any of the other candidates. »

He said he should be included in any debates involving his opponents.

“My opponents ignore me and hope the voters do too,” he said. “It’s not working. I’m the only candidate talking about issues like criminal justice reform and government transparency.”