Tale of the trail: Where Trump, Obama are campaigning for 2026 midterm candidates

Eric OrvietoThu, October 29, 2026 at 5:14 PM UTC

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The biggest names in politics, President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama, are blazing the campaign trail for the 2026 midterms' most important races as Election Day nears. What they are saying during their stops means just as much as the places they are visiting themselves.

President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally at the Shoemaker Center at Ohio University Chillicothe in Chillicothe, Ohio, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump's travels

Oct. 22: Sioux City, Iowa — Trump was met with both supporters and protesters while campaigning with Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is in a tight race with Democratic challenger Josh Turek, whom the president called "a woke far-left radical."

Oct. 23: Fort Myers, Florida — Stumping for Florida gubernatorial candidate and current US Rep. Byron Donalds and current Sen. Ashley Moody, the president called Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon a "Marxist maniac" and governor candidate David Jolly, a former Republican, "crazy." Trump also brought up stock market gains, the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the $5,000 checks he has promised if Republicans win the midterms.

Oct. 24: Perry, Georgia — Rallying for Senate candidate Mike Collins and gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson, Trump announced that Audi would build a new, large factory in the state. Collins is currently trailing incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, while Jackson and Democratic opponent, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, are in a statistical dead heat.

Oct. 25: Port Huron, Michigan — Trump took direct shots at Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed while rallying for Republican Mike Rogers, calling him a "jihadist," a "Muslim Brotherhood member" and saying, "Michigan does not need a Senator on the side of terrorists," and "he would be the only senator that will have to go through a metal detector before he’s allowed to go into the Senate." El-Sayed told Fox News' Bret Baier, "I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, I never will be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood."

Trump also told the crowd, "This great state was built by patriots that shed their own blood, sweat and some even gave their lives." Polls show El-Sayed currently holding a slight lead over Rogers.

Oct. 26: Corinth, Mississippi — In a state he won by 23 percentage points in 2024, Trump visited to hold a rally for incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is facing Democratic challenger Scott Colom. Hyde-Smith told the crowd about Trump, "You kill a gnat with a sledgehammer, and you're about to meet my sledgehammer." Trump responded by saying, "You know, I'm here because Cindy's doing great, but I just got to make sure. I can't take a chance."

Oct. 27: Corpus Christi and Lubbock, Texas — With Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton slightly trailing his Democratic opponent, James Talarico, and Gov. Greg Abbott locked in a tight race with Gina Hinojosa in the gubernatorial battle, Trump did double-duty in the Lone Star State. The president said of Talarico, whom he calls "Talafreako," "If you’re running in Texas and if you don’t like guns, and if you don’t like meat and if you don’t like oil, I think you should be losing by a lot. Where the hell did they get this guy?"

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In terms of policy, he said he would be "terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers $45 billion in costs, unlock vast quantities of Texas natural gas and produce 210 million barrels of oil."

Oct. 28: Chillicothe, Ohio — Rallying for gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, Trump put his support behind both, including backing a Ramaswamy ad that has become a hot-button issue in his race against Democrat Amy Acton. The ad featured Acton's estranged mother calling Acton a liar. Acton has said she has not seen her mother since she was 12, following her stepfather being charged with raping her.

Husted said that Trump protected manufacturing jobs in the area. Recent polling shows both Ramaswamy and Husted slightly trailing in their races against Acton and Sherrod Brown.

Oct. 29: Rock Hill, South Carolina — The president will be in South Carolina again, after visiting on Oct. 21, to campaign for incumbent Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed to her seat following the death of her brother, Lindsey Graham, in July. A recent New York Times/Siena poll found the race between Graham and Democrat Annie Andrews to be statistically tied less than a week before Election Day.

Oct. 30: Daytona Beach, Florida — Trump is scheduled to make a return to the Sunshine State a week after his Fort Myers visit.

Oct. 31: Salina, Kansas — In what a Salina resident called "a big deal," the president will rally for incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, who is battling Democrat Adam Hamilton.

Former US President Barack Obama arrives to speak at a rally ahead of the midterm elections in Morrow, Georgia, US October 28, 2026. REUTERS/Edgar Su (Edgar Su)

Obama's stops

Oct. 24: Cleveland, Ohio — Taking the stage to support Acton and Brown, Obama told the crowd, "I'm tired of being angry, and I'm tired of being divided. I want to reach out and shake my neighbor's hand. I want to get to work doing something for somebody else." However, his most talked-about line, and one that created a firestorm, was when he said Trump's White House remodeling looks "like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory."

Oct. 24: Detroit, Michigan — Obama followed up his Ohio rally with a same-day one in Detroit with El-Sayed and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson. He again went after the renovations, saying of Trump, "he should be on HGTV." He also responded to attacks on El-Sayed's faith, saying, "We have seen this movie before. I starred in it."

Oct. 28: Morrow, Georgia — Campaigning with Ossoff and Bottoms, Obama responded to the criticism of his Cheesecake Factory comment just days earlier, saying the restaurant was his "jam for about a decade," while also responding to his 2014 tan suit controversy.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”