Democrats conceded on Wednesday that Donald Trump’s election eve rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, energized the GOP base, who turned out at higher levels than anticipated and drove Republican Dan Bishop to victory in Tuesday’s special election in the state’s Ninth Congressional District.
As Fox News reported:
Even Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairwoman Cheri Bustos acknowledged that the president contributed to Bishop’s win, writing in a statement, “We fell an inch short tonight, but it took more than $6 million in outside Republican spending and a last-minute Trump rally” to seal Democratic candidate Dan McCready’s fate in the 9th District.
As Breitbart News reported, Bishop’s two point victory, 51 percent to 49 percent, a margin of almost 4,000 votes, was greater than the 905 vote victory of Republican Mark Harris in the 2018 midterm election in the district, also over McCready, which was not certified by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which subsequently ordered yesterday’s special election.
Trump was quick to claim credit for his role in Bishop’s victory, as he did in this tweet moments before the race was called for Bishop on Tuesday:
Dan Bishop was down 17 points 3 weeks ago. He then asked me for help, we changed his strategy together, and he ran a great race. Big Rally last night. Now it looks like he is going to win. @CNN & @MSNBC are moving their big studio equipment and talent out. Stay tuned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2019
Three hours later, when Bishop’s victory was official, Trump praised both Bishop and Republican Greg Murphy, who easily won another special election in the state’s Third Congressional District on Tuesday.
Greg Murphy won big, 62% to 37%, in North Carolina 03, & the Fake News barely covered the race. The win was far bigger than anticipated – there was just nothing the Fakers could say to diminish or demean the scope of this victory. So we had TWO BIG VICTORIES tonight, Greg & Dan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 11, 2019
Rush Limbaugh expanded on the theme that Donald Trump’s popularity played a key role in Bishop’s victory.
“With his rally on Monday, Donald Trump turned this race around,” Rush Limbaugh said on his radio program Wednesday.
“You know where he turned it? Democrat rural strongholds. The Republican ended up getting significant amount of support from Democrat rural areas. The drive by media are not going to tell you that.”
Limbaugh also said that Trump’s growing popularity among black voters played a role in Bishop’s victory, especially in the light of record law unemployment among black workers.
“Dan Bishop won Cumberland County North Carolina. That population is 35 percent black. Donald Trump lost Cumberland County by 20,000 votes in 2016.”
“In Robeson County, 2018 midterms r candidate lost by 15 points. Last night, Bishop lost by only 1.1 points. That’s a 14 point shift,” Limbaugh said, citing Trump 2020 Campaign manager Brad Pascale.
“One of the things the Bishop campaign did is they talked a lot about the craziness of the Squad. That helped turn a lot of Democrat rural voters,” Limbaugh suggested.
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