Trump Closes Midterm Campaign at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool After Final Rallies
President Trump will make his final pitch for Republican control of Congress Monday afternoon from the edge of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
The 2 p.m. Eastern address will highlight the accomplishments of his administration and congressional Republicans, along with his push for “restoring our Great Capital,” Axios reported.
The setting is a statement in itself. Trump ordered the pool’s repair and said the event would “show how beautiful it is,” the AP reported.
The project has drawn criticism. It finished about three months late and cost more than 10 times Trump’s $1.5 million estimate, and the AP noted problems with algae and a peeling liner.
Trump says the pool “was vandalized badly” and that cameras have since been added. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, however, blamed the problems on workmanship and dropped a vandalism case.
A 28-Stop Blitz Ends in Kansas
The speech follows two final rallies Sunday. In Dubuque, Iowa, Trump spoke for about two hours and promised, “We’re going to elect ‘America first’ Republicans up and down the line,” according to the AP.
He then flew to Salina, Kansas. “This is our last stop. We’re closing it down tonight,” he told the crowd during a speech of nearly 90 minutes that ended close to 10 p.m.
“I’m closing the sucker down,” Trump said of the effort, the last of 28 stops in his midterm blitz, NBC News reported.
Since Oct. 1, he has held more than two dozen rallies across 19 states. More than 54 million votes had already been cast nationwide heading into the final weekend.
In Iowa, Trump zeroed in on Michigan’s Senate race, repeatedly calling Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” and Republican Mike Rogers “apple pie,” the Guardian reported.
“If you vote for this jihadist lunatic that wants to destroy you, you’re crazy,” Trump said. He also joked about getting “a special metal detector for Abdul.”
El-Sayed had already fired back at the metal detector line. “I’ll go through a metal detector if you’ll sit for a lie detector,” he said, according to the Guardian.
Trump framed Tuesday as a referendum on himself. “Pretend I’m on the ballot. Essentially, I am on the ballot,” he told the Iowa crowd.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, agreed. “His agenda, without any question, is on the ballot,” Scott said, per the AP.
Not every Republican was fully on message. Retiring Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska warned that “tariffs are not popular here in the Midwest,” a reminder of the issues dogging GOP candidates in farm country.
The Reflecting Pool address gives Trump one last national stage before polls open. Republicans are betting his turnout machine can hold both chambers.
Content created by Conservative Daily News and some content syndicated through CDN is available for re-publication without charge under the Creative Commons license. Visit our syndication page for details and requirements.
