WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump embarked Friday on a final sprint to help Republican candidates ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, as he seeks to sharpen the contrast between the GOP and its Democratic rivals.
Trump is set to hold nine rallies in the four days before polls close Nov. 6, beginning Friday with rallies in West Virginia and Indiana. His travels are aimed at boosting GOP Senate candidates as the party looks to potentially increase its majority in the chamber, rather than working to defend embattled Republicans in the House, where the party’s control appears in doubt.
In West Virginia, Trump is campaigning for Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is in a tight race with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. In Indiana, Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence will be stumping for Republican Mike Braun, who is running against Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.
At the latter rally he’ll have help from Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Knight, who coached the Indiana University Hoosiers.
Trump teased Knight’s appearance in a tweet, saying: “Don’t tell anyone (big secret), but I will be bringing Coach Bobby Knight to Indiana. He’s been a supporter right from the beginning of the Greatest Political Movement in American History!”
Trump has been using his rallies to warn his Republican base of what he argues are the negative consequences of Democratic control of Congress. He has been stoking GOP anger over the Democrats’ handling of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings and fears of illegal immigration as a migrant caravan marches toward the U.S.-Mexico border.
The final push comes as more than 30 million Americans have already cast their ballots in the 2018 midterm elections. The White House revealed Friday that Trump and first lady Melania Trump have already voted.
Press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed that the pair voted by absentee ballot “a few weeks ago” in New York, where their primary residence is located.
The White House did not reveal for whom the Trumps cast their ballots. New York’s Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is facing Republican Marc Molinaro in the governor’s race. Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney is opposed by Republican Eliot Rabin in the heavily Democratic 12th Congressional District in New York City.
New York law allows absentee voting only under particular circumstances, including absence on Election Day or illness.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
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