President Donald Trump is scrapping a weekend rally for Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall in deep-red Kansas. The White House is lining up as many as 20 tele-rallies across the country before Election Day instead. Critics read the move as a sign Trump has given up on holding the seat for the GOP.
Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in nearly a century — since 1932. Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton, a pastor.
“The White House is pulling down Saturday's rally in Kansas, and actively working to schedule as many as 20 tele-rallies for the President before Tuesday,” NBC News’ Garrett Haake reports. “A White House official calls this a ‘shotgun approach’ to spreading the President's support to as many races as possible.”
Trump won Kansas by 16 points in 2024. A CNN analysis now finds him 15 points underwater there, a 31-point reversal.
Zeteo News’ Justin Baragona noted the cancelation “comes after the latest CNN poll shows the Democrat is up by 4 points over Roger Marshall, so one can only imagine what internal GOP numbers are saying if Trump is throwing in the towel on him.”
“There’s one blue win that should be unthinkable but White House ineptitude means such thoughts keep being thunk,” Zeteo News posted on social media.
Zeteo’s Asawin Suebsaeng put the stakes plainly: “If the Democratic Party flips a Senate seat in Kansas, of all places, it would be as good an indicator as any that the 2026 blue wave is more a blue biblical flood, crashing right into Trump’s authoritarian presidency and his party collaborators.”
The Bulwark’s Bill Kristol wrote: “This, IMHO, is what it looks like when the bottom falls out.”
If you like this article, please restack and share with your friends.
Welcome to all our new subscribers!
New here? Post in the comments and tell me how you found The Harbinger.
I’m guessing the old goat just couldn’t keep traveling and changing time zones and keeping up the charade. Especially not for crowds dwindling in size. He’s just not up to that kind of rigorous schedule and daily dose of humiliation. Boo hoo.
Trump is promoting ED?