Donald Trump warned Tuesday of “very bad things” if Republicans lose the US midterm elections, as the US president kicked off a travel blitz under the shadow of unrest in Minneapolis and voter worries about the economy.
At a rally in Iowa — one of the first stops for primary campaigns in US presidential elections — Trump said his party must win both the Senate and the House in November despite his own poor approval ratings.I’m here because I love Iowa, but I’m here because we’re starting the campaign to win the midterms. Got to win the midterms,” second-term president Trump said in his speech.If we lose the midterms, you’ll lose so many of the things that we’re talking about, so many of the assets that we’re talking about, so many of the tax cuts that we’re talking about — and it would lead to very bad things.”
But Trump’s economy-focused speech was largely overshadowed by events in the neighboring state of Minnesota, where two people have died this month in a deadly immigration crackdown.
Trump told Fox News earlier he would “de-escalate a little bit” after federal agents shot 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis at the weekend, but he largely avoided talking about it in his speech.The White House says Trump will be making weekly trips across the country ahead of the midterms, in which voters have historically punished US presidents.
Trump’s team has increasingly focused on the economy after polls showed mounting voter anger over the issue of affordability one year since the billionaire’s return to power.
In his Iowa speech, the 79-year-old president repeated his claims about a “Golden Age” in the United States and insisted prices were falling for most goods.
But he admitted that it may be hard to convince voters in November’s midterms, saying that in past elections “if something happens, the screw turns with the voters” no matter how good the president.Trump has raged at what he calls unfair opinion polls, but numerous surveys have showed him with low approval ratings. A New York Times/Siena poll last week put the figure at 40 percent.
