US President Donald Trump has begun a 32-day election campaign ahead of November’s midterm elections, which could see his Republican Party suffer over his handling of the war against Iran and the economy.
On Thursday, Trump came from Washington, D.C., for back-to-back rallies in Texas and Oklahoma.
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During his first stop in Denton, Texas, Trump sought to change the narrative around his declining approval ratings, offering a personal assessment of his administration’s performance.
“I give us an A+ on government, on the economy, on everything,” Trump told a crowd of supporters at Peterbilt Motors Company, a truck maker.
The president also blamed his growing unpopularity on unfair media coverage, arguing that his pre-election flash rally was necessary to set the record straight.
“We’re doing a very bad job of promoting and a very good job of running the country,” Trump said.
But Trump’s poll numbers have raised concerns about Republican prospects heading into the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Trump himself is not on the ballot, but Republican candidates across the country are seeking to defend the right-wing party’s majorities in both houses of Congress, as well as key state and local offices.
The economy and Trump’s war against Iran are expected to weigh heavily on the election outcome.
On Thursday, the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released the results of a new poll showing that 71 percent of Americans disapprove of the war, which has driven up the price of fuel.
About half of those surveyed also said they were worried about not being able to buy food and gas. Only 26% of respondents approve of Trump’s handling of the economy.
Take center stage
Yet despite record approval ratings, Trump has positioned himself as a key part of Republican midterm strategy.
At a midterm Republican convention, the first of its kind, in September, Trump encouraged voters to consider his record when they were at the polls. “I’m asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot,” he said.
During his tour Thursday, he touted the impact of his tariff campaign, which he credits with creating thousands of manufacturing jobs.
“For decades, you have been mercilessly betrayed by politicians, bad politicians, who let trade cheats pillage your wages, pillage your factories, shut down your jobs,” Trump told Peterbilt workers. “They would still do it if I wasn’t here, believe me.”
Trump’s tariffs, however, have been highly controversial, giving rise to a series of legal challenges. Critics have argued that the heavy import taxes exceed the president’s constitutional powers.
Trump also used his stump speech to allay concerns about the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28. Both sides have declared victory, although a ceasefire remains elusive.
“As I promised, I’m making sure that Iran goes away very quickly. I will tell you that energy prices are going to come down quickly, quickly,” Trump said.
“We will win very easily now,” he added. “I believe we will win right after the election, but maybe before the election.”
The war, however, caused Iran to cut off commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the global fuel trade.
The price of diesel – the fuel used by trucks built at the plant – soared to a record high of more than $6 per gallon (3.8 liters) last week. Gasoline prices have also skyrocketed.
Hurt or help his fellow Republicans?
Trump acknowledged, however, that the stakes are high for his presidency in the upcoming midterms.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, as are 35 seats in the 100-member Senate.
Losing Republican control of either chamber could create obstacles to Trump’s legislative agenda in the final two years of his second term.
But Trump also expressed fear of being impeached a third time, after two previous impeachments during his first presidency.
During the second stage on Thursday, in Durant, Oklahoma, the Republican leader reiterated this fear. “Pretend I’m running, please,” he told the crowd. “If we don’t win, they’ll eventually impeach me.”
Many of the places Trump is scheduled to visit this month are seen as reliable Republican voting districts. After his stops in Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday, Trump will visit Alabama, Ohio and Nebraska in the coming days.
Yet some elections that would normally be considered a victory for Republicans have become more competitive in recent months.
In Texas, for example, no Democrat has won a statewide race since the 1990s. But this year, Republican Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, is struggling to achieve victory in the Senate against Democrat James Talarico.
During both stops Thursday, Trump sought to bolster Paxton’s prospects. At the Peterbilt plant, for example, he called Paxton “the greatest attorney general in the United States of America.”
“We have to get this guy elected,” Trump said, before turning to criticism of Talarico, whom Republicans have sought to portray as out of touch with Texas’ large cattle industry.
“He’s vegan,” Trump said of Talarico, reiterating an unsubstantiated rumor. “And vegans don’t do well in Texas.”
But leaked audio appears to show Paxton lamenting the negative impact Trump had by hosting the midterm Republican convention in Texas last month.
“It dropped our numbers. Everyone’s numbers dropped,” Paxton was quoted as saying.
Trump touts social conservatism
Trump nevertheless took advantage of his pre-election tour to highlight social issues that he believes will help rally voters to the Republican cause.
On Thursday, he returned to familiar topics like immigration and transgender rights, which he described as part of Democrats’ “radical” agenda.
“They want women in men’s sports. They want open borders. They want transgender mutilation for your children,” Trump said. “What are you liberals thinking?
The president also used his appearance in Texas to push back against criticism of data centers, despite concerns from both parties.
Critics fear that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled the proliferation of data centers, which require large amounts of electricity and water to process massive amounts of data.
While Trump has dismissed fears about AI as largely unfounded, a poll last month found that 53% of Americans are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the technology’s environmental impacts.
Even Texas Republicans are responding to public pressure over the growing number of data centers, more than 300 of which are operational and hundreds more under construction.
In August, Gov. Greg Abbott called for an audit of all data centers to map their water and electricity usage, and the following month, Paxton, in his capacity as state attorney general, launched an investigation to determine whether they were complying with water reporting requirements.
Trump nevertheless took advantage of his rally in Texas to praise the expansion of these companies.
“It’s a huge thing. It’s bigger than the industrial revolution,” he said, dismissing such concerns as part of a “scam.” He then explained that he had urged AI companies to “take care of people.”
“They make a fortune for the communities,” he added.
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