Trump Says He Will Respect the Midterms Only 'If They're Honest Elections,' and Predicts Talarico Will Be 'Swamped' in Texas

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will respect the results of the November 3 midterms only if the elections are honest. "I will if they're honest elections," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One on his way to Texas, when asked whether he will respect the election results regardless of the outcome, USA Today reported in its live coverage. The comments come as polling points to a possible blue-wave midterm, with Democrats widely favored to win control of the House of Representatives and holding multiple viable paths to the Senate.

The president also took aim at the Democrat he is campaigning against in Texas. Trump predicted that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico's rally in Lubbock on Tuesday night would be "swamped" because his own crowd would be larger. "He's going to get swamped because we have thousands of people," Trump said as he left Washington. "You know a midterm is usually not that exciting. This has become very exciting and the crowds are incredible." Trump said he believes Republican nominee Ken Paxton would "do very well," though polls show a tight race. Hundreds of cars lined up around the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center hours before Trump's evening rally, with some supporters arriving up to 12 hours early to secure a place inside, USA Today reported.

The latest Texas Senate polling shows why both campaigns are fighting over the final week. An Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll released October 22 found Talarico at 48 percent and Paxton at 46 percent, a two-point lead inside the poll's 3.1-point margin of error. A Cook Political Report battleground poll released October 21 put Talarico ahead 49 to 44, and a Fox News poll released the same day had the race tied at 49 percent each.

Tuesday is Trump's fourth trip to Texas since Labor Day. He campaigns for Paxton at the Port of Corpus Christi in the afternoon and at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in the evening, while Talarico holds his competing rally at Lubbock's Fiesta Center. The Texas race will help determine control of the Senate, which Republicans now lead 53 to 47, and Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office since 1994. Space City Daily will file on the verified remarks from both rallies tonight.