Trump kicks off 32-day midterm blitz amid record-low approval — SkimNews
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- Trump kicked off a 32-day campaign tour ahead of November 3 midterms with back-to-back rallies at Peterbilt Motors in Denton, Texas and a stop in Durant, Oklahoma, telling supporters to "pretend I'm on the ballot."
- An AP/NORC poll released Thursday found 71% of Americans disapprove of the US-Israel war on Iran and only 26% approve of Trump's handling of the economy, with roughly half worried about affording food and petrol.
- Trump awarded himself an "A+" on economics and credited his tariff campaign with creating thousands of manufacturing jobs, though the sweeping import taxes face multiple court challenges over constitutional authority.
- Trump told the Texas crowd "Iran will be very quickly ended" and that energy prices would drop "rapidly," despite diesel hitting record highs above $6 per gallon after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic.
- Trump campaigned for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico, calling Paxton "the greatest attorney general in the United States of America" — even though leaked audio reportedly captured Paxton saying Trump's September midterm convention in Texas "dropped our numbers."
- Trump dismissed data center environmental concerns in Texas as a "scam" and called the industry "bigger than the industrial revolution," despite Governor Greg Abbott ordering a water and electricity audit and Paxton launching a compliance investigation.
- Trump warned that a Republican loss in the midterms could lead to a third impeachment: "If we don't win, they'll end up impeaching me."
Why it matters: All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are up for grabs, and losing either chamber would roadblock Trump's legislative agenda for the final two years of his term — and possibly trigger an unprecedented third impeachment. The fact that Trump is concentrating his stops in reliably red districts like Oklahoma, Alabama and Nebraska signals a defensive posture, while $6/gallon diesel and 71% war disapproval hand Democrats powerful kitchen-table ammunition in otherwise unwinnable races.
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