Trump to rally in Okla., Texas for GOP candidates in deep red states
Oct. 1 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump will campaign for Texas and Oklahoma candidates Thursday, hoping to boost their prospects of getting elected even though both states have been Republican strongholds.
Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said he will travel with Trump to Denton, Texas, then to Durant, Okla., where the president will be hosting an evening rally.
It will be Trump's first visit to the Sooner State since 2020.
Trump planned to land in the Dallas area in the afternoon and visit a factory. He and his entourage will then travel about 90 miles north to Durant. His speech is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CDT, with other speakers starting at 4 p.m.
The president made a video speaking to the people of Oklahoma, and Lankford posted it on X . In the post, he said, "Thank you, President Trump, for the kind words and for sending your greetings to Oklahomans heading to the Tulsa State Fair. It kicks off tomorrow, and if you're there, make sure to stop by and say hello to the great folks at the Tulsa County GOP booth!"
A few hundred people were seen waiting in line outside the venue in Durant as rain fell all day. The rain is expected to continue until 8 p.m., with thunderstorms predicted. The venue, Choctaw Event Center, said it will allow people in around 2 p.m.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei will also be at the rally.
"We always appreciate the president coming," Lankford told KOTV-TV . "I'm actually traveling with the president today. I'm in D.C. I'll leave out with him. I'll come into Durant with him and travel with him all day long today, so it'll be a great day. There's a lot that we've got to be able to cover, but it'll be a fun rally for the folks that are coming."
Lankford said the top issues facing Republican candidates are inflation, gas prices, beef imports and interest rates.
Multiple recent polls have indicated that Trump and the GOP majority in Congress are being blamed for inflation, but Lankford placed the blame on former President Joe Biden.
"We are very concerned about just over 3% inflation; people feel that," Lankford said. "They feel that in the gas prices and where things are. But I think some people forget under the Biden administration it was 9% inflation, not 3%. So it's come down dramatically. It still has a long way to go."
Inflation at the end of Biden's term in January 2025, however, was 3% -- down from its peak rate of 9.1% in June 2022.
"We've got to get gas prices down, because that literally affects everyone," Lankford told the local news channel. "Diesel prices affect every product out there, starting at the farm and everything is transported."
Trump said in early September that he planned to campaign for midterm races but indicated it would only be for those candidates who are in close races. The Oklahoma races aren't seen as competitive since Trump won every county in Oklahoma each time he ran for president.
"As Trump's approval rating sinks to an all-time low, Oklahoma Republicans are suddenly hiding their allegiance to the deeply unpopular president while Oklahomans make it clear they don't want any more of their costly policies that are making life unaffordable in Oklahoma," the state's Democratic Party said last week .
