President Donald Trump said Wednesday he plans to hit the campaign trail ahead of this year’s midterm elections, as lawmakers and candidates increasingly press him to use his political operation — and its massive financial resources — to help Republicans hold their majorities in Congress.
The president also said he will be “making a lot of stops,” adding that he expects to campaign heavily in “the last 30 days before the election.”
Later Wednesday, Trump spoke to a gathering of House members in the White House Rose Garden and said he would concentrate on 35 “close” races, including holding digital town halls. But he doesn’t want to venture out to campaign in areas where Republicans are already favored to win, he added.
“Please don’t ask me to come to your area and make a speech, right?” the president said Wednesday evening. “But I’m going to go to every one of those 35 places, and we’re going to see if we can get everyone elected.”
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He repeatedly singled out one race he planned to involve himself in: Sen. Dan Sullivan’s reelection battle in Alaska.
“I’ll go out to fight for him,” Trump said, lashing out at Sullivan’s Republican challenger, who also happens to be named Dan Sullivan.
His comments come as Republicans are growing increasingly anxious about the November elections and whether Trump has done enough to help candidates who are struggling.
The president has endorsed candidates in a number of Republican primaries, including several races in which he backed candidates challenging an incumbent.
But Republicans have since raised concerns that Trump has been slower to help some of the candidates he helped elevate, either through in-person campaign trail appearances or shelling out money from his robust political operation.
Party bigwigs have pressed Trump in recent days to help Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is locked in a bitter campaign against state Rep. James Talarico for a U.S. Senate seat. The president on Wednesday defended Paxton, who he promised to support moving forward while acknowledging that the Texas Republican has political liabilities.
“The ones we want to focus on will be, obviously, Ken Paxton,” Trump said on Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s podcast that aired Wednesday. “We got to get him elected. He’s a good man. You know, I know him very well. He really was a great attorney general.”
Trump went further, saying Paxton’s political weaknesses were largely superficial.
“And some people, I’ll be honest, some people don’t like an interview that he’ll do or something,” Trump said.
Trump doubled down on his assessment in the Oval Office on Wednesday, admitting to reporters that Paxton’s vulnerabilities run deep — reiterating the sentiments for a third time during his evening comments in the Rose Garden.
“Some people don’t like the way he dresses, or some people don’t like the way he interviews or talks,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Trump’s political operation has plenty of resources to help his chosen candidates. MAGA Inc., Trump’s main super PAC, had more than $400 million on hand in July, according to campaign finance records.
But the money may not be enough to overcome Republicans’ structural disadvantages this cycle.
Republicans are facing polling showing the president is unpopular among Americans, with a net approval rating of -26, according to an analysis of YouGov polling performed by The Economist.
Polls also show the generic congressional ballot is breaking for Democrats in the ballpark of 6% — with relatively little movement as Election Day approaches, according to election analyst Nate Silver.
This story was updated to reflect Trump’s Rose Garden comments.
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