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At a rally in Kentucky on Saturday, President Donald Trump resumed his usual attacks on Democrats and predicted a strong Republican showing in the midterm elections. But privately, he would have blamed his colleagues while polls predict problems to come.
In a roughly 90-minute speech in Highland Heights, Trump waded into familiar territory, ridiculing Democrats as “crazy” and communists intent on allowing men to compete in women’s sports and letting immigrants enter the country illegally.
“Who the hell votes for these people?” » asked Trump. “They will destroy your borders, decimate Kentucky’s farms and energy, maim your children and disenfranchise 25 million illegal aliens,” he said. Praising a slate of Republican congressional candidates, he added: “The Republican Party is starting to look good. »
However, behind closed doors, the 80-year-old president struck a different tone, accusing his aides and political operatives of a shaky mid-term strategy and expressing doubts about the candidates’ choices. Reuters reported Saturday.
With the November election just weeks away, several polls suggest that Republicans could suffer heavy losses, potentially losing their majority in Congress amid voter frustration over the cost of living and the war in Iran. This week, Fox News first predicted that Democrats appeared poised to regain control of the House of Representatives.
Although he has publicly expressed confidence in Republicans’ midterm prospects and dismissed Democratic candidates as easy to beat, Trump has privately expressed frustration with his aides during the campaign.
He pointed the finger at James Blair, who runs PAC MAGA Inc., questioning his handling of campaign funds and why such spending has failed to improve poll numbers. Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has also drawn criticism, with some officials questioning her oversight of mid-term strategy.
“What’s really happening is a circular firing squad,” one source said.
But a White House spokesperson dismissed the report, calling the sources “armchair experts peddling their baseless speculation.”
The president also dismissed the reports regarding Wiles. “Susie Wiles is my most trusted and longest-serving chief of staff – there’s a reason for that,” he said this week. “She has been with me since the beginning, is my trusted advisor and has my complete confidence.”
Trump spent much of his speech at Saturday’s rally attacking Democrats, whom he derisively refers to as “Democrats.”
He singled out several candidates, mocking Texas Senate candidate James Talarico as “Talafreako” and calling Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El Sayed a “jihadist.” He also accused his predecessor, Joe Biden, of ushering in a “dark ages” in which “they weaponized our government.”
Elsewhere during his speech, which a protester briefly interrupted, Trump touted his administration’s accomplishments, including what he described as record economic gains.
“It was just announced that under Republican leadership, incomes have reached an all-time high,” he said, adding that “the poverty rate has just reached the best number we have ever seen.”
Trump suggested that the economic numbers were so strong that a long speech was unnecessary. “So I can stand here and do stupid things for two hours,” he said. “Sometimes I really think when I have these numbers, I say, you know, let’s get the hell out of here.”
He nonetheless said he was working hard to increase the Republican Party’s turnout, pointing to recent rallies in several states where he urged his supporters to vote as if he were on the ballot.
“No president has ever campaigned like this in the midterm elections,” Trump told the crowd. “They’ll say he was terrible. He ran a terrible campaign. If I make it, if we win, I’ll get absolutely no credit. They’ll say the candidates were spectacular. But what’s going on? I have to do it anyway.”
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