Home · Politics · Oct 30 archive
Trump Dangles Government Help to Rally GOP Support
· Confirmed
In Short: In Georgia and Ohio, Trump told voters he'd answer calls for help from Republican candidates, but would be apt to ignore calls from their Democratic rivals.
President Donald Trump is using his administration's potential to provide government assistance as a bargaining chip to rally Republican support for the upcoming midterm elections. At a campaign rally in Georgia, Trump told voters that his administration would be far less likely to help if Democrats were in power, signaling to states that his administration may be far less likely to provide aid if their voters put Democrats in power on Election Day.
In Georgia and Ohio, Trump told voters he'd answer calls for help from Republican candidates, but would be apt to ignore calls from their Democratic rivals. During a rally in Georgia, Trump acted out a hypothetical scenario where Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff called to ask for money for his state, with Trump responding, “I don’t give a damn what he wants.”
Trump's strategy has drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Democratic candidate for Georgia Senate, Rev. Raphael Warnock, said, “You're playing politics and trying to bribe for a vote. So many hundreds of thousands have already lost their lives, and hundreds of thousands are suffering, and many have been given a death sentence.”
Jill Steen Dilgard, who works with victims and their families, said it's not right to be “playing politics” with the aid. “It made me physically sick, and it infuriated me,” Dilgard said, referring to Trump's comments about Camp Lejeune.
In a separate incident, Trump criticized the Democratic campaign of Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska, alleging that operatives had recruited another candidate with nearly the same name as the incumbent Republican senator, Dan Sullivan, in an alleged scheme to siphon off votes. In response, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy ordered a probe into the matter.
The president's campaign tactics have also extended to other states. In Michigan, Jason Turkish, the fiancé of Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), said he plans to vote for Republican Mike Rogers over Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the state’s closely watched Senate race.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson announced that members of Congress would be sent home early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Despite the criticism, Trump's campaign continues to emphasize his administration's policies on taxes, prescription drugs, immigration, and other issues. White House spokesman Davis Ingle cited these policies as reasons why voters should support Republicans.
President Donald Trump says Georgia GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins can call him whenever he wants to ask for help for his state.
What this adds
WarpBeat previously reported that Trump's strategy of using government assistance as a bargaining chip has drawn mixed reactions from voters and political figures. Both ABC News and the Marietta Daily Journal agree that Trump is using his administration’s potential to provide government assistance as a bargaining chip in the upcoming midterms, signaling to voters that his administration may be far less likely to help if Democrats win.
Background
Despite the differing reactions, both ABC News and the Marietta Daily Journal agree that Trump is using his administration’s potential to provide government assistance as a bargaining chip in the upcoming midterms, signaling to voters that his administration may be far less likely to help if Democrats win.
Vance encouraged Republicans to campaign with enthusiasm and support their friends on the trail.
What's confirmed
- Cooper has described Trump’s Camp Lejeune threats as “insulting and frustrating” while his campaign has gone after Whatley for refusing to denounce them.
- President Donald Trump says Georgia GOP Senate candidate Mike Collins can call him whenever he wants to ask for help for his state.
- President Donald Trump is signaling to states that his administration may be far less likely to help if their voters put Democrats in power on Election Day.
- In Georgia and Ohio, Trump told voters he'd answer calls for help from Republican candidates, but would be apt to ignore calls from their Democratic rivals.
- Mike Collins, R-Ga., speaks at a campaign rally at Guardian Centers of Georgia, Saturday, Oct.
- President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally at Sioux Gateway Airport, Thursday, Oct.
- Jill Steen Dilgard, who works with victims and their families, says it's not right to be “playing politics” with the aid.
- “There’s a big difference between that and Pee-wee Herman calling,” Trump said last week in Perry, Georgia, using his derisive nickname for Ossoff.
- White House spokesman Davis Ingle cited Trump's policies on taxes, prescription drugs, immigration and other policies and added, "Democrats have made it clear that they have no agenda to improve the lives of the American people."
- She said in an interview with the AP that it was "totally unacceptable" for the president to condition care for those who had served in the U.S. military on the results of the midterms.
- “It’s a losing strategy for the failed president to insult and threaten voters while he’s in town reminding them he made everything more expensive,” Ossoff told The Associated Press in response to Trump’s rally comments in Perry.
What's still developing
- Questioned afterward at the White House, Trump said, “If we’re not there, then somebody else is going to have to settle” the Camp Lejeune claims and he “can’t speak for another administration,” although his own Justice Department is handling the claims.
- “It has just been determined that the Democrats in Alaska illegally searched for, and recruited, a man named Dan Sullivan to run against our distinguished Republican Senator, Dan Sullivan, in order to defraud, confuse, and obfuscate the Election, thereby taking votes away from the REAL Senator, Dan Sullivan,” Trump wrote on Wednesday.
- The New York Times reported Wednesday that Peltola campaign staffers and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were allegedly involved in a monthslong scheme to stack the ballot with candidates and recruit other men named Dan Sullivan, all in the hopes of siphoning off votes from the Republican incumbent.
- Alito Jr. said “threatening” protests against the Supreme Court are part of a campaign to try to intimidate the justices, and he lamented that neither the Biden Justice Department nor local prosecutors attempted to charge those who engaged in the demonstrations.
- One of the ads called his proposal for new casinos “crooked” and accused him of “using campaign donations to pay for real estate” while hiring his wife for a government job.
- Republican Vivek Ramaswamy’s ad featuring the estranged mother of Amy Acton, his Democratic opponent for Ohio governor, is leaving the state’s airwaves, the Ramaswamy campaign confirmed Thursday.
- Clouds and some sun this morning with more clouds for this afternoon.
- Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers.
- A steady rain early...then remaining cloudy with a few showers.
- But he is now refusing to accept defeat, calling the court's decision a "dirty trick" that "changed the rules in the middle of the game".
- “The perpetrators acted by misleading and deceiving a Romanian businessmen … the members of the organized crime group aimed to obtain the financial guarantees deposited by the victim to access the respective credits,” a DIICOT press release noted.