President Trump used two Texas rallies to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton and several House contenders, as the party seeks to protect its grip on the state in a closely watched contest.
The appearances in Corpus Christi and Lubbock came as Mr Paxton faces Democratic candidate James Talarico in a Senate race regarded as a toss-up. Republicans are attempting to avoid their first statewide defeat in Texas in more than 30 years, despite Mr Trump having won the state by more than 13 points two years ago.
Mr Talarico held a rally in Lubbock on the same day. During his own appearance there, the president urged voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot” and appealed directly to those uncertain about supporting Mr Paxton.
“Before you pull the trigger … take a look at your 401(k)’s,” Mr Trump told the crowd.
He predicted that petrol prices, which he said had been driven higher by the Iran war, would fall “very, very rapidly”. Mr Trump also praised Texas’s oil industry, saying: “We are making an absolute fortune. More than we ever have. Texas has never, ever done numbers like this.”
The president attacked Mr Talarico and warned that a Democratic Senate majority would make governing more difficult. “I’ll be vetoing like crazy, OK? But I’d rather work from the positive side as opposed to the negative side,” he said.
Mr Trump also returned to remarks he made earlier this month about Republican Ohio senator Jon Husted’s college football career. He had described “examining his body” and “look[ing] at his ass”, comments he said had been unfairly singled out by the media.
“I made the mistake of saying that I started off by studying his ass,” Mr Trump told the Lubbock rally, adding that he had also praised Mr Husted’s hands, feet and shoulders. He claimed the joke had helped the Ohio senator in the polls before turning the remark towards Mr Paxton.
“Maybe I should do that with Ken Paxton, but I’m not sure your body is gonna qualify,” he said.
