Trump vows heavy campaign push for GOP, cites ‘midterm curse’ for sitting presidents

He’s not on the ballot this year, but President Donald Trump promises he’ll be on the campaign trail “a lot” on behalf of fellow Republicans running in the midterm elections.

“I’m gonna do a lot of campaign traveling,” Trump told reporters Thursday aboard Air Force One, as he pointed to his effort this year to help the GOP defend their narrow Senate control and razor-thin House majority. “We’re going to work hard.”

But Trump appeared to downplay the GOP’s ballot box expectations as he acknowledged that the party in power, in this case the Republicans, normally faces stiff political headwinds in the midterms.

“For whatever reason, it’s a deep-down psychological reason, sitting presidents … don’t seem to do well in the midterms,” the president noted.

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Trump made stops last month and earlier this month in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Michigan to highlight his accomplishments during his first year back in the White House and to tout his efforts to combat rising prices, a key issue with voters.

And next week the president travels to Iowa, where Republicans aim to defend open Senate and gubernatorial seats in November’s elections.

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That’s a big change from Trump’s first term, when the president didn’t start his campaign travel blitz until Labor Day.

Republicans lost control of the House in the 2018 midterms, something Trump is aiming to avoid in his second term.

Part of Trump’s strategy includes holding a first-ever Republican midterm convention this year.

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National political conventions, where party delegates from around the country formally nominate their party’s presidential candidates, normally take place during presidential election years. And the hope among Trump and top Republicans is that a midterm convention would give the GOP a high-profile platform to showcase the president’s record and their congressional candidates running in the midterms.

The GOP is dealing with a low propensity issue: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.

“We got to make sure we turn our voters out, and we got to make sure that we have people energized. And there’s nobody that can energize our base more than President Trump.”

Trump on Thursday touted that “nobody had a better first year than I did.”

“Look at what we’ve done. We have the greatest economy in the world. We have the greatest investment in a country, in history, by many times — nobody’s ever had that,” he added.

But the president’s approval ratings remain well underwater, with many Americans giving him a big thumbs down on the job he’s doing with the economy and the issue of affordability.

“One year into his second term, Donald Trump has made one thing unmistakably clear: He doesn’t care about everyday Americans,” DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer argued in a statement. “Voters won’t forget Trump’s betrayal come midterms — and Republicans will have to answer for it.”