Donald Trump has cancelled planned weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa, replacing them with telephone events in a final campaign push that will reach nearly 20 states before the midterm elections on November 3.
Trump had been due to appear at Salina Regional Airport in Kansas on Saturday to support Senator Roger Marshall, before travelling to Iowa for a Sunday rally. The Republican National Committee announced both cancellations on Thursday and set out a slate of “tele-rallies” in their place.
The calls will be carried in nearly 20 states, including Michigan, Alaska, Texas and Iowa. Trump is expected to speak for about 10 minutes, rather than the more than 90 minutes he usually spends at an in-person event.
Marshall, the Republican senator, is in a tight Kansas contest with Democrat Adam Hamilton, a pastor of a megachurch. Trump said, “I don't feel I have to go to Kansas.” He said he was staying away “because he's doing very well,” an apparent reference to Marshall.
That assessment comes despite a CNN poll released on Thursday that put Hamilton on 49 percent support and Marshall on 45 percent, a lead of four percentage points. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932.
Joe Gruters, the Republican National Committee chairman, described the phone events as a “72-hour sprint”. He said: “Voters across the country want to hear from President Trump before Election Day, and this 72-hour sprint will be a huge boost in the closing days.”
Trump, who is 80 years old, denied being sick as his campaign moved from rallies to calls. “We're going to have a strong Tuesday night,” he said. His Friday rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, will proceed as planned. Daytona Beach is some 320 kilometres (200 miles) up the coast from the Mar-a-Lago resort.
The change arrives with less than five days remaining before the vote. Republicans hold 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats, while Harvard University’s ElectIt election forecasting model gives Democrats a 94 percent chance of taking control of the House and a 74 percent chance of winning a Senate majority.
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