President Donald Trump revived campaign rallies in Kansas and Iowa less than a day after canceling them, days before midterm elections that will decide control of Congress.
“Rallies are BACK ON!” read a statement that Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich posted on X Friday morning, citing a source familiar with the plans.
The Republican National Committee had called off both events Thursday, saying that “with Republicans in a strong position in Kansas and Iowa, previously planned in-person rallies in those states will no longer take place as scheduled,” Newsweek reported.
Republicans claimed they had called off the rallies because they saw themselves in a strong position in both states, but by Friday morning both were back on.
The new statement framed the reversal as a scheduling matter.
“President Trump loves his supporters, and in addition to nearly 20 tele-rallies, he will hold back-to-back rallies in Kansas and Iowa on Sunday,” the statement said. A White House official and a Republican official also confirmed the Sunday plans to CNN.
The committee’s announcement Thursday had said that rather than appear in Kansas on Saturday and Iowa on Sunday, Trump would spend a “72-hour sprint” holding rallies by phone, which it said would let him reach voters nationwide, CBS News reported.
“The rallies were rearranged for scheduling purposes to accommodate dozens of additional tele-rallies that were recently added to the President’s schedule,” Friday’s statement said.
On Thursday, the tele-rallies were the reason for the cancellation. On Friday, the rallies were rearranged to make room for those same tele-rallies.
Trump said Thursday that the Kansas race didn’t need him, and he rejected a suggestion that his health caused the cancellation.
“I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well,” Trump said of Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), according to Newsweek.
But new polling showed Marshall trailing Democrat Adam Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor, in a state Trump carried by 16 percentage points in 2024, Newsweek reported. The outlet said the canceled rally would have been Trump’s second in Kansas for Marshall this month.
“I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas,” Trump said after a reporter asked whether he had canceled the trip because of his health, CBS News reported.
“God didn’t make your vocal cords to do a rally every day,” Trump said in a hoarse voice Monday. He held 25 rallies in October, short of his goal of more than 30.
Public polls suggest his visits have not had their intended effect, with Democrats unexpectedly competitive in Iowa, Kansas and other states. Vice President JD Vance also canceled a Friday press conference in Minnesota, CNBC reported.
Republicans in Kansas and Iowa were split over whether they wanted Trump to come. Some top Republican operatives in both states quietly expressed relief at the canceled rallies.
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