VANDALIA, Ohio — President Donald Trump rallied for Republicans in Ohio’s Senate and gubernatorial races on Saturday, predicting surprises for the party in a volatile midterm election climate.
“I think we’re going to be shocked because they don’t know what’s going on,” Trump said on stage at a high school gymnasium near Dayton.
“Get out and vote,” Trump added. “If you do that, we’re going to win, and we’re going to win big. We’re going to shove it up their asses.”
White House officials told NBC News the trip, which will hit at least 17 states between now and Nov. 3, is aimed at boosting incumbent Sen. Jon Husted and Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump, who has narrowly won Ohio three times, began his speech by praising both races before launching into broader remarks to promote himself and his administration. He also endorsed local Rep. Mike Turner and several House candidates in attendance, including Republican Derek Melling, who is running against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio.
Husted’s efforts to retain his Senate seat – he was appointed after J.D. Vance was elected vice president – have been a particular focus for Republicans in Ohio and Washington state. In August, the National Republican Senatorial Committee warned in a memo that Husted’s past enthusiasm for building data centers was hurting his campaign. Others worry Husted, who has long wanted to be governor, is not fully committed to the campaign.
The battle is one of the most expensive and hotly contested Senate races in the country this fall. Along with a number of other key contests, the clash between Husted and Brown could determine partisan control of the House. This week, the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC affiliated with South Dakota Senate Majority Leader John Thune, poured $14 million into Ohio to support Husted, bringing the group’s investments in the state to $93 million.
“Senator Jon Husted voted to put Ohio first, and he keeps voting,” Trump said before speaking of his conversations with Thune and others: “They thought he was extraordinary.”
The high school gymnasium where Trump spoke Saturday night was smaller than his usual rally venue. The home field of the Butler High School Pilots can accommodate up to 5,000 people. When Trump took the stage, there were already several rows of empty seats in the upper bleachers—and by the time he finished his speech 93 minutes later, there were even more empty seats.
In Ohio and elsewhere, polls show Trump and the Iran war are deeply unpopular, with voters most loyal to Trump likely to stay home without him on the ballot, and Republicans grappling with how to win.
“As a lifelong Republican who has voted in every election since I was 18 and voted in every primary as a Republican, my real concern is whether we are going to be able to elect a Trump voter every four years,” Nick Owens, the former Brown County Republican Party chairman in Ohio and a former member of the State Board of Education, told NBC News last month. “I have a real concern that these voters are not going to come out and vote.”
Trump explicitly acknowledged the dynamic on Saturday, reiterating arguments he made on the campaign trail this fall.
“When I was running, we were winning,” Trump said. “But for some reason, when I wasn’t running, they were attracting 44 percent fewer people. So what I’m going to do is ask you to pretend that I’m running, because if we do that, and if you attract people, you’re going to win, and we’re going to win big.”
Husted told reporters before the rally that Trump is a unique asset to his campaign.
“Well, he won Ohio by 11 points in the last election, and if we get the same voters to vote in this election, we’re going to win,” Husted said.
Alex Triantafilou, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, told NBC News that the rally was “very important” in motivating low-propensity Trump-loyal voters.
“We know that in Ohio, if we elect the same voters as we did in 2024, we’re going to win every race,” Triantafilou said in an interview. “No one can talk to a crowd better than President Trump.”
Saturday’s rally included a cameo from former NFL coach Jon Gruden, who was Husted’s teammate on the University of Dayton football team years ago.
“Jon Husted is more than a friend of mine,” an animated Gruden told the audience. “He was a great player…he would never give up on you or anybody.”
Trump was surprised by Husted’s football days, which he said he didn’t know about until he heard about them from Gruden.
“No one told me you were a great athlete,” Trump said before attacking his Democratic opponent, “and Brown is not — he’s not an athlete. That guy can’t tie his shoes.”
On Saturday, Brown’s team sent a mobile billboard to Dayton and streets near the rally linking Husted’s support for the war with Iran to higher gas prices.
“Jon Husted has turned his back on working families — he only cares about his billionaire friends and special interests,” Brown said in a campaign statement.
Ohio is also a tight race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, polls show. Ramaswamy’s opponent is Democrat Amy Acton, a physician who served as the state’s health director under DeWine. Ohioans haven’t elected a Democrat as governor in 20 years, but questions are being raised about billionaire Ramaswamy’s appeal at a time when high prices are a top concern among voters, especially in the state’s rural areas.
Ramaswamy, like Husted, addressed the crowd early in the rally, and Trump invited both men to return to the podium during the speech to make more comments. In introducing Ramaswamy, Trump pointed out that he briefly ran against Ramaswamy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“He’s a nasty guy,” Trump said of Ramaswamy. “But you know what? He’s smart. He loves this country. He actually has a great heart.”
Compared to Husted, Ramaswamy was otherwise not the focus of Trump’s remarks. For example, Trump criticized Senate Democrats this week for blocking Husted’s ratepayer protection bill, which would have aimed to rein in higher utility costs associated with power-hungry data centers.
Trump said Republicans “are taking historic action to ensure that big tech data centers benefit local communities.”
Trump later raised the data center’s claim, despite concerns it could be a losing issue for Husted.
“We want them,” Trump said. “Look, there’s so much money to be made in Ohio. You can’t just turn them away. They’re going to go to China.”
Trump also recited lyrics to the 1968 Al Wilson song “The Snake,” a popular song that has appeared repeatedly in his rally speeches but with a new local twist. Trump dedicated the song to nearby Springfield, Ohio, using it as an allegory for a community of trust that welcomes immigrants.
The city has become a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election after Trump reiterated unsubstantiated and racially charged claims that Haitian immigrants in the city eat dogs and pets.
At another moment, the crowd erupted into chants of “give this term-limited president four more years.”
“I’d love to do this for another four years,” Trump responded in a teasing tone, before suggesting the media would exaggerate his claims.
“We’re driving them crazy,” Trump said of the media. “But I love doing it. I love being with you. I really do.”