Trump's Campaign Uses Fear to Rally Power

Mark Sanford said South Carolina voters worry about “the economy,” “affordability” and “inflation.” President Donald Trump, meanwhile, was scheduled to rally at Clemson University for appointed Sen. Darline Graham. The campaign asks people to choose among candidates, while its loudest message, CNN reported, invokes fears of cultural and national collapse.

The concerns voters raised

“I think it's off-topic because the preponderance of folks that I talked to in and around South Carolina are worried about the economy, they're worried about affordability. They're worried about inflation,” Sanford, the Republican former governor of South Carolina, told CNN's Erin Burnett. He added, “I guess it's a way of changing the subject if what's going on isn't working for you ... but I don't see this as the issue that's going to move swing voters.”

That disconnect shapes a campaign schedule designed to turn out conservative voters and support vulnerable Republicans. CNN reported that Trump visited Republican-leaning states, while White House strategists didn't send him that week to swing states with the closest races. South Carolina wasn't considered a battleground; Trump won it in 2024 by nearly 18 percentage points.

Graham took over the rest of her brother's term after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham died. Trump endorsed her for a full term, and she became the Republican Senate nominee after beating Rep. Ralph Norman in a primary runoff by about five percentage points. Now she faces Democrat Annie Andrews. Party insiders and primary voters have already narrowed the field before voters make their choice.

Fear as campaign machinery

At a Kansas rally on Monday, Trump said, “Americans are going to stand up and declare that we will protect our civilization, we will preserve our religion, our values and our heritage, and we will never let our nation be conquered or destroyed by people that hate us,” and used an antisemitic slur. He also said Democratic Senate nominee Adam Hamilton had told people to “repent because you were born White.” CNN described that as a misrepresentation of Hamilton's broader comments on race, self-reflection and personal faith.

Trump called U.S.-born Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist,” repeated the insult Tuesday night in North Carolina, and called him “Mohammed.” “If you have any problem with names, just call the guy Mohammed. You'll probably be right,” Trump said. In Kansas, he used “Shylock,” an antisemitic slur, while defending Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against criticism over medical billing practices. CNN said Trump also used the term publicly in 2025.

In Arizona, Trump warned that a Democratic Congress would lead to children undergoing gender transitions at school without parental consent. CNN described the claims as baseless and said he repeated similar stories in Georgia and North Carolina. He also warned unrest in France could spread to the United States if Democrats won. Socialists and communists, he said, wanted to obliterate the republic.

The ballot's narrow stage

Trump was scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Wednesday, after visiting North Carolina the previous day, with Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas next on his itinerary. The live coverage also listed debates in Michigan and Kansas and a Wisconsin governor's debate for Wednesday night. Abdul El-Sayed was scheduled to face Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, where Republicans hoped to flip the open Senate seat. In Kansas, Roger Marshall was set to debate Adam Hamilton for a second time, as a race in a deeply Republican state had become competitive. David Crowley and Tom Tiffany were scheduled for their only debate in Wisconsin, described as a major swing state.

The campaign reached into religious authority, too. Trump questioned Hamilton's standing as a religious leader in the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, saying, “He doesn't act like a pastor because his views aren't of a pastor.” Vice President JD Vance joked Monday that a protester at one of his events must have crossed the border illegally to behave that way. Across rallies and debates, the machinery gives voters a choice of candidates, while Sanford's economic concerns compete with attacks on identity, religion and belonging.