US President Donald Trump has joked that his supporters would cheer for him even if he uttered “the stupidest things,” amid rising worries about Republican voter enthusiasm before the November 3 midterm elections.
Trump delivered the comment on Saturday at a campaign rally in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he threw his support behind Republican Senator Bill Hagerty and gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn.
Speaking to the crowd, Trump bragged about his popularity inside the Republican Party and brushed aside claims that his political standing might harm candidates running in November.
“I’m very popular. I really am,” he told supporters.
The president then pointed to the reception he gets at campaign rallies, noting that his devoted backers would keep clapping no matter what he said.
“There’s such love in these rooms,” Trump said. “I could say the stupidest things, and you’d clap.”
He quickly tempered the remark, adding, “But we don’t say the stupidest things. We say things of common sense.”
Trump’s remarks come as polling indicates that some voters who backed him in the 2024 presidential election are growing less enthusiastic about the Republican Party’s chances in the midterms.
A poll released on Thursday found that 26 percent of voters who supported Trump in 2024 thought Republican candidates should put distance between themselves and the president to boost their odds of winning in November.
Per the survey, his approval rating among voters who backed him in 2024 dropped to 67 per cent, down from 75 per cent in July, 83 per cent at the start of 2026 and 95 per cent early in his second term.
Even with those numbers, Trump insisted his popularity would help Republican candidates win.
“You’ll win because I am popular,” he said. “We’re common sense. We want borders. We want low taxes.”
He likewise brushed aside media speculation that Republicans might suffer losses due to his unpopularity, maintaining that his influence was still a political asset for the party.
Trump called on supporters to show up for the midterm elections, contending that Republican victories relied in part on voters keeping their enthusiasm alive.
Trump further asked why he should campaign in Tennessee, a state he has won time and again in past elections, though he added that he wanted to thank supporters for their ongoing loyalty.
“Sometimes it’s nice to go to a place where you don’t have to be, but you’re there to say thank you to the great people that elected you three separate times,” he said.
Control of the US Congress will be decided by the November 3 midterm elections, and polls suggest Democrats hold an edge in the race for a slim majority in the House of Representatives.
The outcome may shape how much congressional backing Trump receives for the rest of his agenda in the latter half of his presidency.
