On Oct. 12, President Donald Trump flew into Lunken Airport to speak at a rally held at the Warren County Fairgrounds. Beyond causing a traffic headache for many trying to make their way home on a Friday, with parts of both Interstate 71 and 275 closed for much of the afternoon, Trump rallied his base, hitting on topics such as Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court and the Nov. 6 election.
Trump visited Cincinnati to campaign for GOP candidates running for key offices in the state. Rep. Steve Chabot (R), who represents much of Cincinnati’s West Side and northern suburbs of the 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Jim Renacci (R), a former congressman running against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) for the U.S. Senate, were both in attendance.
Renacci praised the president and his policies. “The crowd here loves you,’’ Renacci said. “Ohio loves you. And Ohio loves what you are doing.”
According to September 2018 polling from The Morning Consult, Trump has a 46 percent approval rating in Ohio, with a 49 percent disapproval rating.
Chabot was less enthusiastic about Trump. In an Oct. 8 interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, Chabot described his relationship with the president as “cordial,” though he did not embrace him. Chabot admitted that he “did not vote for him in the general election.”
Both Chabot and Renacci spoke at different points in the rally, attempting to drum up support in both of their races. Renacci trails Sen. Sherrod Brown significantly, with a recent Suffolk poll showing him down by 17 points.
Chabot, however, is in a much tighter race, as many political experts such as Sabato’s Crystal Ball marking the race between Chabot and Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval (D) as a toss up.
Trump focused his speech on partisan rhetoric, saying “[Democrats] are bad people… Republicans believe in the rule of law; they [Democrats] believe in the rule of the mob.”
Trump also accused Democrats of attempting to “impose socialism,” as well as “take away your health care, and take your jobs.”
Notably missing from the rally was Republican nominee for Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine (R). He was instead represented by his running mate for Lieutenant Governor, Ohio Secretary of State John Husted (R).
DeWine is running against Richard Cordray (D), the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the race is essentially tied according to recent polls.
Sen. Rob Portman, who is not up for re-election, was also in attendance at the rally.
Trump also continued his anti-media rhetoric, again calling the media in attendance “fake.” “One little mistake, one little mistake and they try to destroy your entire career,’’ he said. “Fake news, fake news, fake news.”
Trump’s third visit to the Cincinnati area as president was more a campaign event than a celebration rally, as his previous events have been. The Republican party feels the pressure of Democratic candidates Pureval and Cordray.
The election on Nov. 6 will be a key point in the future of Ohio politics, and national attention from the president on these races proves it.