Trump's Campaign Tour Meets Voters' Cost Concerns

President Donald Trump was scheduled to rally in South Carolina on Wednesday for Sen. Darline Graham, as former Republican governor Mark Sanford said voters he spoke with cared more about the economy, affordability and inflation than the campaign’s focus on transgender children. Graham is seeking a full term against Democrat Annie Andrews after taking over the remainder of her late brother Sen. Lindsey Graham’s term.

The Campaign's Electoral Map

Trump endorsed Graham, who won the Republican Senate nomination in a primary runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman by about five percentage points. South Carolina wasn’t considered a battleground. Trump won the state in 2024 by nearly 18 percentage points.

The South Carolina event was one of a series of midterm campaign trips. Trump traveled to North Carolina the previous day and was scheduled to visit Iowa, Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Texas over the following days. CNN reported the visits aimed to increase turnout among conservative voters and support vulnerable Republicans. The White House strategists hadn’t sent Trump that week to swing states with the closest races, CNN reported.

Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s Republican former governor, said the campaign’s focus on transgender children didn’t match what voters told him. “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 told CNN's Erin Burnett.

“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,” Sanford said.

Rhetoric at the Rallies

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.

Trump 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 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.”

In Kansas, Trump used “Shylock,” an antisemitic slur, while defending Republican Sen. Roger Marshall against criticism over medical billing practices. CNN reported Trump had used the term publicly in 2025 as well.

Trump called U.S.-born Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist,” repeating the insult Tuesday night in North Carolina. He also called El-Sayed “Mohammed,” saying, “if you have any problem with names, just call the guy Mohammed. You'll probably be right.”

In Arizona, Trump warned that a Democratic Congress would allow children to undergo gender transitions at school without parental consent. “They want to mutilate, cut your children. It's unbelievable, what they do. ... Your son leaves as Jimmy and comes back home in three days as Janet, and they don't even ask you,” he said. CNN described the claims as baseless and reported he repeated similar stories in Georgia and North Carolina.

Debates and Voter Concerns

The campaign stops came alongside Senate debates in Michigan and Kansas and a Wisconsin governor’s debate. In Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed was scheduled to debate Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers in the final scheduled debate for an open Senate seat Republicans hoped to flip. In Kansas, Republican Sen. Roger Marshall was set to debate Democrat Adam Hamilton for a second time; the state was described as deeply Republican, but the race had become competitive.

In Wisconsin, Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley was set to debate Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in their only scheduled debate. Wisconsin was described as a major swing state.

Trump also warned unrest in France could spread to the United States if Democrats won, said socialists and communists wanted to obliterate the republic, and questioned whether Somali-born Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar was entitled to constitutional rights because she came from what he called a “shithouse” country. Vice President JD Vance joked Monday that a protester at one of his events must have crossed the border illegally to behave that way.

Sanford’s account placed the campaign’s rhetoric beside the economic concerns he heard from voters. “They're worried about affordability,” he told CNN, and he also cited inflation and the economy in and around South Carolina, where Trump was scheduled to campaign for Graham.