WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance held final rallies Monday ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, with both parties making last-minute pushes across key states as polls pointed to tight races for Congress.
In Washington, DC, Trump addressed a crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, urging supporters to vote and suggesting a landslide victory was possible if his base turned out. "If the people who voted for me and voted in the last election … if they go out and voted just a good portion of them, we will win in a landslide," he said, while conceding that sitting presidents typically do not win midterms.
The president also referred to the Senate race in Alaska as a "fraudulent election," claiming Democrats conspired to get a fake Dan Sullivan on the ballot to confuse voters. US District Judge Sharon Gleason on Sunday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar Alaska from certifying its results, describing the request as "infeasible."
Trump said that if he had to work with a Democrat-led Congress, he would become "Mr Veto," and indicated he would be willing to pardon people around him if necessary.
Vance travelled to Rome, New York early Monday to boost Republican House candidates Anthony Constantino and Kailee Buller. A Siena Research Institute poll showed the race could be close despite a Republican registration advantage of about 80,000 voters. Vance also spoke to reporters travelling through Joint Base Andrews about the ongoing US-Israeli war against Iran, suggesting the president and he feel "pretty good about the prospects for potentially coming to a negotiated settlement" and that new attacks were not a foregone conclusion.
Democrats held their own final rallies across multiple states. In Michigan, Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigned alongside Representative Debbie Dingell and Senator Elizabeth Warren. In Texas, James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa made a joint push for the Senate and governor's race in Austin. Talarico polls narrowly ahead of Republican Ken Paxton, while Governor Greg Abbott's lead over Hinojosa has narrowed.
Other Democratic candidates, including Troy Jackson in Maine, Josh Turek in Iowa and Adam Hamilton in Kansas, campaigned across their respective states. Separately, a federal judge in Washington was due to hear arguments on whether ICE agents can be present at polling places, with civil rights groups arguing such operations would violate federal restrictions.
With Republicans seeking to hold their majorities in the Senate and House despite Trump's low approval ratings and polls predicting a strong night for Democrats, the nation headed to the polls Tuesday.
