President Donald Trump, listens, as Ohio gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) – President Donald Trump, his shadow hanging over midterm elections that will determine the future of his administration, used his final pitch Monday to ask voters to help preserve “fragile” GOP victories that could be erased by Democratic gains in Congress.
With the monthslong fight serving as a testing ground for his nationalist appeals and the strength of the coalition that powered him to the White House two years ago, Trump closed out a campaign season that has been defined by his racially charged rhetoric, hard-line immigration moves and scattershot policy proposals. Acknowledging the stakes in the closing days of campaigning, Trump stressed to voters that everything is on the line.
“It’s all fragile. Everything I told you about, it can be undone and changed by the Democrats if they get in,” Trump told supporters on a telephone “town hall” organized by his re-election campaign. “You see how they’ve behaved. You see what’s happening with them. They’ve really become radicalized.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the IX Center, in Cleveland, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
In an election-eve interview, Trump struck a gentler note with media conglomerate Sinclair Broadcasting, saying he regretted some of his caustic campaign rhetoric.
“I would like to have a much softer tone. I feel to a certain extent I have no choice, but maybe I do,” Trump said.