Supporters Line Up Hours Early in Salina as Trump Heads to Iowa, Then Kansas, on the Final Sunday
By the time media crews arrived at Salina Regional Airport at 10 a.m., the line was already forming - seven hours before the president was due on stage at 7 p.m., on a two-rally Sunday that began in Dubuque, Iowa, and ends in Kansas two days before Election Day.
HOUSTON - The final Sunday of the midterm campaign put President Donald Trump in two states and his supporters in line before lunch. At Salina Regional Airport in Kansas, supporters were already queuing when media arrived at 10 a.m. to set up, hours before gates opened on a rally set for a stage outside an airport hangar, with several hundred seats arranged around it and a speakers' program from about 5:30 p.m. ahead of the president's 7 p.m. appearance.
The president narrated the day himself in a Sunday afternoon post. "Heading to Iowa, and then, so importantly, Kansas (Will be my last stop!), to make sure our Great Patriots get out and vote for truly incredible Candidates," he wrote, naming U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall and gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson "in addition to all of our fabulous Warrior Republicans running for Congress, and other vital positions." The Iowa stop came first - remarks scheduled for 3 p.m. in Dubuque, where he is campaigning for Ashley Hinson and Iowa Republicans - before the flight south to Salina.
Kansas Democrats used the visit to make their own case. Adam Hamilton, who is running against Marshall, said in a video message that "the president is back in Kansas to campaign for Roger Marshall," and promised Republican voters he would "work across the aisle to do what's best for the people of our state." Cindy Holscher, running against Masterson for governor, said in a statement that "Kansans are paying $4 for gas and $6 for diesel because of a war no one asked for," and that she hoped "the president is listening."
The Salina rally exists because Kansas Republicans asked for it back. The stop was canceled on Thursday in favor of tele-rallies and restored within a day; the president explained that "we have a couple of races that are very important, and they said if you could go, it would be better than a tele-rally," adding, "I tried to talk them out of that." Sunday's crowds will test the theory by Tuesday, when Kansas and Iowa voters deliver the only verdict that counts.
