Trump, Vance Scrap Planned Appearances in the Final Stretch: Kansas and Iowa Rallies Canceled for a 72-Hour Sprint of Tele-Rallies

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have canceled several planned appearances across three states in the final days of a midterm campaign that could see Republicans lose control of Congress, CNBC reported Friday. Trump canceled two weekend rallies in Kansas and Iowa and will instead hold a flurry of tele-rallies, addressing voters by phone.

Trump had been set to appear in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and in Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. The canceled stops were part of a midterm blitz in which he said he would travel to 35 locations to boost Republican turnout. The Republican National Committee said the president would instead reach at least 19 states in a '72-hour sprint' before Tuesday's elections, and RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said the change would allow Trump to reach more voters than he could with in-person appearances.

Asked about the cancellations on Thursday, Trump questioned the need to travel to Kansas, where Republican Senator Roger Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton. 'I don't feel I have to go to Kansas,' Trump said. When a Reuters reporter asked whether the decision had anything to do with fatigue from travelling, Trump rejected the suggestion. 'I feel perfect,' he said. Vance, for his part, canceled his planned Friday visit to St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The shift is not a stop. Trump campaigned Thursday in Rock Hill, South Carolina, for Republican Senator Darline Graham, and he is still scheduled to hold a rally Friday at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida - which, with Kansas and Iowa canceled, stands as his final in-person rally of the midterms. The backdrop is tight: a Marquette Law School poll conducted October 14 to 22 and released October 28 put Trump's approval at 37 percent and his disapproval at 61 percent. For Texas voters, the phone sprint replaces the arena as the closing sound of the national campaign - the state's own Senate and governor's races, covered on this station's Politics file, close with early voting tonight.