President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to hit the campaign trail for Republican candidates in 35 races this fall in the lead-up to the November midterm elections.
“I’m going to take the final 30 days, and maybe a little bit more than that, because it’s all about 35 races,” Trump said at a White House dinner event that included GOP members of Congress. “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 cited a few of the races he expects to travel for, including Sen. Dan Sullivan’s re-election bid in Alaska.
“I’m going to go up to Alaska for Dan Sullivan,” Trump said, taking a dig at one of Sullivan’s competitors, a retired teacher who is also named Dan Sullivan.
He added that he’ll also travel to Texas and stump for state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is competing against Democrat James Talarico for a Senate seat.
Several of the Republicans at the White House for Wednesday night’s event in the Rose Garden face competitive races, including Reps. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Mike Collins of Georgia.
Trump said he’s not aiming to stump for shoo-in candidates.
“If you’re leading by 40 points and you’ve been there for 25 years,” he said, “please don’t ask me to come to your area and make a speech, right?”
Trump told reporters earlier in the day that he’ll help his party even though he doesn’t see himself being affected by the midterms.
“I’m not affected by the election,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “No. 1, I’m not running. My party’s running, and I’m going to help my party.”
Two weeks earlier, Trump sent a different message of sorts to supporters, telling them to “pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot” when they cast their votes in the midterms.
Trump is promising to hit the campaign trail as his super PAC, MAGA Inc., boasts a war chest of more than $400 million, according to the latest campaign finance reports. Republican candidates in tight races hope to see some of that money spent on their races.
