President Trump spent nearly two hours on stage Tuesday at a midterm campaign rally in North Carolina, highlighting the demanding schedule he has taken on to help Republicans win in November.
Trump said his effort to help the GOP retain control of Congress marks a departure from his previous approach to midterm elections. This time, he stressed, he is personally putting in the work.
“I’m doing something different. I’m working like a dog,” he told supporters gathered in Greenville.
“When I wasn’t running, I didn’t really campaign,” Trump said. “I let other people campaign. I figured that’s it. What did I know?”
With Republican candidates trailing or locked in close contests across several traditionally red states, Trump said last month that he planned to visit 35 battleground congressional districts before the midterms.
The president has made 17 campaign appearances since the Republican Party’s two-day midterm convention in Dallas last month.
“I’ve done like 10 rallies in about eight days,” Trump said, adding that he is scheduled to return to North Carolina for another appearance before Election Day.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Why France’s Proud Protest Tradition Has Sometimes Turned Deadly
“We have like 15 days [before Election Day], and I’m doing about 18 rallies,” he continued. “That’s work.”
Trump spoke for roughly one hour and 52 minutes, making the Greenville event one of the longest rallies of the midterm campaign and one of his lengthiest in recent memory.
The president brought GOP Senate candidate Michael Whatley and several other Republican candidates running for lower office in North Carolina onto the stage for brief remarks.
Whatley is seeking to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis but trails his Democratic rival, former Gov. Roy Cooper, by nearly 10 percentage points in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump carried North Carolina by roughly 3 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump also invited NASCAR legend Richard Petty to address the crowd. Petty likened the upcoming elections to a “big race.”
“This is the best driver we’ve ever had,” Petty said of Trump. “So what we’ve got to do is, you all have got to pick out the best pit crew … and that’s what all this is about.
“Let’s get out and get the very best pit crew we can for the best driver.”