Trump promised a swing district blitz. He's going to a lot of very red states
Despite promises to campaign in competitive swing districts, Donald Trump has focused his recent rally schedule on reliably Republican states. His team frames these visits as a strategy to boost turnout and show gratitude to loyal supporters.
Why it matters
The discrepancy between campaign promises and actual travel schedules provides insight into the strategic priorities and resource allocation of the Trump campaign during the midterms.
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Early in September, President Trump gathered Republicans running in competitive races for a dinner in the White House Rose Garden. Prime aged beef burgers were on the menu as the president made a pledge to spend the final month before the midterms campaigning for the approximately 30 Republican candidates in attendance.
" I'm going to go to every one of those 35 places and we're going to see if we can get everyone elected," Trump said confidently.
The White House hasn't clarified which 35 places the president was talking about that night. Since then, Trump has campaigned with fewer than a third of those candidates. Rather than focus on swing states and swing districts as the president said he would, his travel schedule has taken him to a lot of Republican territory.
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