MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump will continue his midterm campaign with a rally in deep-red Alabama on Friday, returning to the place where he first drew huge crowds.
Trump is expected to speak at 7 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream in the video player above.
Trump will support Republican candidates including Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is running for Alabama governor against former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, and state Rep. Rhett Marques, who is seeking to overturn Alabama’s newly redrawn 2nd Congressional District. The rally will also give Trump a chance to surround himself with some of his most loyal supporters as he faces dismal poll numbers and his party’s growing pessimism about their chances of retaining the House and Senate in November.
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“I went because you have to thank these states that support you 1,000 percent, and I haven’t been there in a while, and I just want to thank them,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Thursday. “I went there because they wanted to see me there.”
More than a decade ago, Trump held his first major rally in Mobile, drawing about 30,000 people to a college football stadium. The huge crowd made it clear that Trump is more than a celebrity candidate and has the potential to make waves in the 2016 primaries.
Read more: AP-NORC poll shows most Americans blame Trump for high prices as Trump’s economic approval rating hits new low
Trump is planning an aggressive travel schedule from now through November to the most hotly contested battlegrounds, including Ohio and Texas. But his decision to start his tour in deep red states, which have received relatively little attention this election cycle, underscores the challenges he faces.
Alabama is friendly territory as voters upset with Trump
Although Trump has a loyal base of supporters who show up to the polls when he goes to the polls, he has become increasingly toxic. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research this week found that only about 3 in 10 American adults approve of the way Trump is handling the job of being president. When it comes to the economy, most blame him for rising prices.
However, Trump has repeatedly dismissed concerns about high costs and natural gas prices as the unpopular war with Iran drags on.
Friday night’s rally will provide Republicans with the spectacle of a large, cheering crowd as they try to drum up enthusiasm. Speakers will include Tuberville and Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who is running for Tuberville’s seat, and said the president’s rally “will be the jet fuel we need to win big in Alabama.”
While Republicans remain the most popular candidates in Alabama’s statewide races, they face a more challenging political landscape this year despite their redistricting efforts.
Mobile is close to Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Xiaomari is trying to fend off a challenge from Trump-backed Marks after the district’s lines were redrawn redder as part of a larger effort to help the party retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The district is one of several Democratic-leaning districts in the South that was reshaped to a Republican advantage this year after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling severely weakened the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Rights Act is a civil rights-era law that increased minority representation in Congress and elsewhere. Numbers was elected to the House of Representatives in 2024, with two Black representatives for the first time in Alabama history.
Trump rally will also benefit Florida voters
Mobile also borders the Florida Panhandle, a Republican stronghold. Party officials hope the rally will help bolster candidates backed by Trump, including Republican Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running for governor.
At a meeting on Capitol Hill this week, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles told Republican senators that Trump would campaign aggressively leading up to the Nov. 3 midterm elections, holding events nearly every day.
Friday’s rally is also expected to highlight the recently approved $3.2 billion Mobile River Bridge and Bayway project. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attended the groundbreaking ceremony earlier in the day along with Gov. Kay Ivey.
Ivey’s office calls the project the largest transportation project in Alabama’s history and necessary to support the Alabama Gulf Coast and beyond.
Colvin reported from New York.
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