THE MASK SLIPS

Trump, 80, Closes Rallies With Telling Reveal

The president got candid as he finished his 30th rally in 32 days.

Donald Trump has made a rare admission of frailty as he came to the end of his MAGA midterm roadshow.

Speaking in the friendly environs of Salina, Kansas, the 80-year-old president called time on his cross-country campaigning. “I’m closing the sucker down,” Trump told the crowd on Sunday night, during his 30th rally in just over a month.

“I’m getting out of here. I got to get a little sleep. I’ve been doing a little too many of these.”

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Trump has deliberately put himself front and center of the GOP midterm campaign—“Pretend I’m on the ballot,” he told voters—only to see Democrats take the lead in crucial Senate contests.

Last week, he decided to call off his last weekend rallies to campaign via tele-rallies instead, but snapped at a Reuters reporter who asked whether he was too tired. He then reversed his decision.

With his voice hoarse, Trump dropped a candid look into his midterm anxieties at the final rally in Kansas.

“I had to come here to make sure that Roger got elected. I had to do it,” he said of Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall’s re-election campaign.

“I didn’t want to take a chance. I could have been home watching television or some crappy thing. I’d rather be with you,” he tellingly added.

Trump won Kansas by 16 points in the 2024 election. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1932.

But Kansas has unexpectedly emerged as a nail-biter as Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton closed the gap and even overtook Marshall in the polls.

The president went on: “Believe me, I love you all. I’d rather be with you. But I’ve done it for one simple reason: to stop America-hating communists and jihadists from taking over the United States Congress. Can’t do it.”

Marshall’s re-election bid was rocked by a New York Times report last month finding that before entering politics, the obstetrician-gynecologist sued 700 patients with outstanding bills, of whom 81 were arrested. His patients were also routinely charged 18 percent interest.

Trump struck a melancholy tone as he waved goodbye to high-stakes campaigning as president. “We’ve been doing this for 11 years, and there’s never been anything like it. And there probably never will be again. There’ll never be the crowds,” he said, adding, “This is a unique thing that’s taken place.”

Trump held an event in Dubuque, Iowa, first, before traveling to his later rally in Salina, Kansas.

He ranted about “jihadists” and “communists” in Iowa, adding, “I’m doing these damn rallies all over the place.

“We’re going to elect America-first Republicans up and down the line; we’re going to keep our nation strong.”

In the U.S. Senate race in Iowa, Democrat Josh Turek holds a narrow 48 percent to 47 percent edge over Republican incumbent Ashley Hinson, creating a statistical dead heat within the margin of error, according to the latest poll of likely voters by the New York Times/Siena.

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Meanwhile, the contest for governor sees Democrat Rob Sand taking a commanding 51 percent to 43 percent lead over Republican challenger Zach Lahn, putting the governor’s mansion firmly within Democratic reach.

In the Kansas Senate race, Democrat Adam Hamilton leads Republican incumbent Roger Marshall 49 percent to 44 percent, with Libertarian David Graham at 4 percent. In the governor’s race, Democrat Cindy Holscher holds a razor-thin 48 percent to 47 percent lead over Republican Ty Masterson.

The White House has been contacted for comment.

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