President Trump, sounding hoarse, cast his ballot alongside first lady Melania Trump in West Palm Beach on Saturday. He vowed to maintain the exhausting campaign schedule that has taken him from rally to rally in support of Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.
“It’s a strain on your voice. It’s a strain. You know, it’s not normal, what I’ve done,” Trump told reporters after voting. He then left for a campaign rally in Georgia.
“It’s hard because I’m not campaigning for myself – I’m campaigning for other people, some of whom I don’t know.”
Trump said he could return to South Carolina after visiting the state Wednesday to campaign alongside embattled appointed Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.). Graham is locked in a close race and was in Florida on Friday night.
He praised Ohio Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio), calling him a “John – great athlete” and a “big, powerful strong guy,” while also offering an optimistic assessment of Republicans’ chances of retaining control of the House.
Even while back in Florida, Trump skipped a round of golf. Instead, he hit balls with unidentified golf professionals. “I wasn’t in the mood to play. Because I’m too busy,” he said.
When asked how he could work with Democrats, Trump acknowledged the historic difficulties presidents face during midterm elections but argued that his unusually active campaign schedule could help Republicans.
“A sitting president always does badly in the midterms,” he said. “There’s no president that’s ever campaigned like I have.”
Trump also criticized former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Obama was campaigning in Ohio and Michigan on Saturday, while Clinton had criticized Trump’s redesigned Rose Garden.
“They’re critical because we beat them,” Trump said.
“Obama was a lousy president. Clinton was not bad, but he got caught up in a lot of scandals. Outside of the scandals he would have been a good president.”
Trump also declined to rule out pardons for lower-level White House staff members. After being asked about a Washington Sun report that broad pardons were being considered for junior aides involved in deportation, war or trade matters, he sought to reassure glamorous aide Margo Martin, who was traveling with him.
Trump addressed Martin directly when questioned about the report.
“Margo, you’re not going to have to worry about it, okay?” Trump told her. He bristled at a question about whether he was preparing to attack Iran, while leaving open the possibility of further action. “I may have to finish it off or maybe they’ll make a deal, but I’m not sure.”
Asked why corruption had become a leading concern for voters, Trump offered a brief response: “Because the Democrats are very corrupt.”
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The president voted in his adopted home state after brushing aside polling averages showing his approval rating at 38% or lower.
“I’m not at 38,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t believe I could be beaten by anybody. I think that if I needed it, which I don’t, I think 60.”
Trump is not on the ballot this year, but he has urged voters to view the midterm elections as a referendum on his presidency.
Florida’s Senate contest features Republican Sen. Ashley Moody against Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Moody is favored, while the race to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to be more competitive.
Former Republican Rep. David Jolly, now running as a Democrat, is challenging Trump ally Rep. Byron Donalds in the gubernatorial race.
Trump spent the night at Mar-a-Lago between two campaign rallies and chose to vote in person. His decision came hours after he urged supporters in other early-voting states on Truth Social to cast their ballots by whatever method was available to them.
“If you have a mail-in ballot, return it immediately and, if not, GO VOTE at the Polls RIGHT NOW, and get everyone you know to VOTE FOR THE REPUBLICAN IN EVERY RACE, UP AND DOWN THE BALLOT!” Trump wrote in one post aimed at New Jersey voters.
“There is a lot of cheating in vote by mail,” Trump claimed Monday.
The Justice Department has intensified prosecutions of people accused of illegal voting in the weeks leading up to the elections. The department also told election officials in California that they must help identify noncitizens on voter rolls or risk becoming the subject of federal “scrutiny,” the New York Times reported.
DOJ sued the state on Thursday and asked it to segregate the votes of 20,000 people until their citizenship status could be “determined.”
Trump referenced that probe Saturday: “It could be as high as a million votes. The 20,000 is just a little bit, and that had to do with the past election, not this current election.”