Trump heads to Iowa after BIZARRE rally in South Carolina

[0:00] The midterms draw ever closer. We're down to 11 days, I think, until the midterm elections. [0:05] And to that end, the president is still out on the campaign trail. He'll travel to Iowa today [0:10] after another rally in a red state just last night. He's going to be in Sioux City in support [0:14] of Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who's running in a U.S. Senate seat in Iowa. [0:19] Her race against Democrat Josh Turek is considered a toss-up. Sioux City, very red area on the map, [0:24] so driving MAGA turnout in a red part of the state. But a sign of just how close this race is, [0:29] President Trump is expected to hit Iowa again on November 1st. Last night, though, [0:34] the president campaigned for another hand-picked candidate of his, Republican Senator Darlene [0:38] Graham, in South Carolina, who was appointed to her late brother's seat at Trump's suggestion. [0:44] At least 11 protesters were removed from that rally at Clemson University. And at one point, [0:48] a Trump supporter appeared to punch a protester, drawing praise from the president. As for the [0:54] speech itself, the president rambled for just over 90 minutes, spending little time on South Carolina. [0:59] Instead, he went through his usual rally rants and grievances, like not winning the Nobel Peace [1:04] Prize. But this claim, he claimed he should have won a Pulitzer, different prize as well. [1:08] I settled eight raging wars, or soon-to-be wars, and we're close to ending two more, [1:16] Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. They'll end one way or the other. Oh, and when Iran ends, the oil. And [1:29] again, all of that, it's a very small price to pay. I settled all these wars, and they gave the [1:38] wonderful Peace Prize, right? Does anybody know the name of that Peace Prize? The Peace Prize. [1:45] They gave the Pulitzer Prize to a young lady, I think she's 80 years old, a young lady who nobody ever [1:54] heard of. So, but I didn't get the Nobel Prize. I didn't get the Pulitzer. I should have gotten the [2:00] Pulitzer for writing, too. The people that got it shouldn't have gotten it, you know? They got the, [2:05] they got a Pulitzer Prize for their accurate and wonderful writing on the subject of Russia, [2:12] Russia, Russia. They all had it wrong. They had it wrong. MSNOW White House reporter, [2:18] Kayla Gardner, is here on set with me, winner of the Way Too Early Prize, favorite guest right here. [2:23] We love our guests. Anyway, I think the thing that's striking about the way that Trump is doing [2:28] this closing message is that in all of these states, when you say that this is a race about [2:32] Trump and vote like he's on the ballot, he doesn't necessarily have to talk about local politics in [2:37] these places. So it makes sense when it's Kansas or Iowa or Michigan or where Ohio, wherever else he's [2:44] been, that he's going to talk about the Iran war, play the greatest hits, remind people why they voted [2:49] for Trump in the first place, except that in a place like South Carolina, the politics are really [2:54] weird. And the fact that Republicans have not fully coalesced around Darlene Graham, whether [2:59] it's because they wanted a Ralph Norman and they're doing a write-in campaign or because they don't [3:03] feel that she should have just been anointed to the seat that her brother held for so long. I mean, [3:07] the South Carolina politics on this are weird. And that's why he's in a place where he shouldn't [3:11] be before a midterm. And he's in so many places where you wouldn't think that he should be before [3:16] a midterm. I think what I think about when I hear the president speak is if you didn't know [3:20] we were 11 days from election day, it would sound like maybe we were in the primaries. Maybe [3:24] we were in 2025. He doesn't actually sound like he's prosecuting a case for his candidate to win [3:31] against a Democrat. What I keep wondering is what is he promising if Republicans keep the House and [3:37] the Senate? That is not clear other than this $5,000 check, what the president has promised [3:43] essentially in different forms over the last year. And making Camp Lejeune settlements contingent [3:47] somehow, even though they do not have to be. Right. Talking about, he's talked about these [3:51] checks for doughs. He's talked about these checks for tariffs. We have still yet to see a bill about [3:55] these $5,000 checks. And I think you mentioned in South Carolina, Darlene Graham has really touted [4:00] the fact that she has these ties to the president because of her late brother. But then you just saw [4:04] the president essentially nuke his sanctions bill, his legacy bill, by essentially waiving all of [4:10] these sanctions. So it really calls into question the relationship that she has with President Trump [4:15] that has put her in this position in the first place. And it's the same thing that Roger Marshall [4:19] brought up on stage last night during his debate with Adam Hamilton. The idea that he can call the [4:23] president when he disagrees. You're watching all of these candidates who are in competitive races, [4:28] the Republicans, trying to make the case that sticking close to Trump bears fruit for their [4:33] constituents. It's central to Susan Collins' argument, though she is not an ally all the time of the [4:37] president. I mean, does that work? I mean, you've been out on the campaign trail talking to voters. [4:42] And you brought up such a good point about the president talking about being on the ballot. [4:47] He is already on the ballot, whether he told people that or not. Like, he's talking to his [4:51] MAGA base at these rallies. They already see him on the ballot. And then his not supporters, [4:57] the people who don't like the president, are already motivated to vote because he's on the ballot. [5:01] And we continue to see these protesters at his rally. There was as many as 12 last night. [5:06] And we're talking about red cities and red states. And we continue to see this dissent [5:11] in front of the president. And last night, as you mentioned, he was cheering [5:14] this altercation in the middle of his rally. It's really dark. [5:18] This reminded me of something that we saw during the Trump won rallies. I cannot remember if it was [5:23] during the 15, 16 campaign years or once he was in the White House, 17, 18. But I went to rally [5:28] and we followed a legal trial of someone who punched a protester because Trump repeatedly was saying, [5:32] punch him out at that point in the campaign. And this felt like a callback. The protests have [5:37] definitely been at a higher cadence. And I think that that's an interesting thing for us to watch [5:43] as well. But I think you're right. And I'm interested in if there is any kind of a proactive [5:47] message in a place like Iowa, which was such an early sign of a place that was coalescing around [5:52] his support. We tracked the Obama to Trump counties from 12 to 16. I mean, that's just such a state that [5:58] has been turned into Trump's image and now feels like it's at a precipice of reconsidering that. [6:03] How red or purple does Iowa want to be? So we'll watch that get tested in theory. But there's [6:08] another battleground state that we're paying close attention to, too. President Trump and Vice [6:13] President J.D. Vance both weighing in on a controversial ad attacking Ohio Democratic [6:17] gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton that has sparked bipartisan outrage. This ad, released by Republican [6:22] nominee Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign, features Acton's estranged mother disputing her account of [6:27] childhood abuse. This is what Trump said yesterday when asked about that ad. [6:31] I heard that there's something where her mother went against her. I don't know what that has to do [6:39] with the thing. I just don't know that. And as you know, well, I guess, you know, it was about a [6:47] Republican. I can guarantee you that let it go. So that's why you're asking. The fact is, I know [6:51] nothing about it. But I hear the mother went very rogue on the daughter, doesn't have a lot of respect for [6:58] the daughter. And I think the mother is a witness to things also. So who knows? And you have to [7:04] figure that out. It's a very unusual situation to have a mother hate a daughter that much. But [7:10] I don't think that has anything to do with Vivek. Meanwhile, Vice President Vance was in his home [7:17] state of Ohio yesterday campaigning for Ramaswamy. And he took issue with Republicans criticizing this [7:22] ad. Whether the ad was appropriate or not is not really my concern. What is my concern is who's [7:30] going to govern the next generation of American government? Who is going to win the Senate race [7:37] in the state of Ohio? Who's going to win the governor's race in the state of Ohio? And I got [7:41] to be honest that when I see Republicans, people in my party reacting so strongly, especially elected [7:48] officials, look, have the opinion you want to have on that ad. If you think it was too tough, say it was [7:52] too tough. If you think it wasn't tough enough, say that. But I have to admit that I'm a little bit [7:56] disgusted when I see Republicans across the country who are whining more about that advertisement than [8:03] they are about what the congressional Democrats and other Democrats want to do to the United States [8:07] of America. The media and the Democrats in the state of Ohio are obsessed because guess what? [8:15] Vivek Ramaswamy had the audacity to run a TV commercial, which calls it out like it is and [8:21] calls Amy Acton a liar. And my message, ladies and gentlemen, is very simple. Whatever you think [8:27] about any of the TV advertisements, focus on the substance and focus on the facts. [8:33] Let's focus on the substance and the facts. This ad is based in an estrangement of a mother and her [8:39] child because the child suffered sexual abuse at the ages of 11 and 12 at the hands of the man that [8:45] her mother was with. That is the root of this. That's why there is pushback. It's not because it's a [8:50] tough ad. I said this on Alicia Menendez's show yesterday. I know that the bar is in hell for a [8:55] political discourse right now. But when you have Republicans and Democrats, Nikki Haley, former [8:59] governor of South Carolina, conservative to the core, saying this is what I've always known to be [9:04] true about Vivek Ramaswamy. Like this is what he will do to get into power. That's the concern. [9:08] That's the complaint. And as you mentioned, I've spent time in Ohio and thinking about hearing this [9:14] from the vice president who has had an incredibly difficult childhood as well. And to hear him just [9:19] outright dismiss these concerns that, as you mentioned, are coming from both sides of the [9:23] aisle, it was just astonishing. And I have spent time talking to Ohio voters. And there is real [9:30] concerns about Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign. And I talked to Republicans who were a-okay with John [9:35] Houston, but had this hesitation. And as one GOP pollster, Frank Lund, said, this felt like a Hail Mary. [9:41] That is the only thing that you could really use to describe this, because why else would you [9:45] exploit someone's childhood trauma? Very clearly someone who she says she has not spoken to [9:51] in decades. And some people think that some voters, maybe perhaps in rural counties, just won't look [9:57] into this. I seriously question that. I think that people will want to know who this woman is, [10:02] what her ties to Amy Acton are. And at the end of the day, it could also have the opposite effect [10:06] and just cause people to say, this is not okay. This is not human decency. And we are already seeing [10:12] early voting going on in Ohio. I think this could be a deciding factor for people there. [10:17] Yeah. This is not the kind of ad that you put up if you feel good about your prospects in a race. [10:21] Every campaign strategist talks about what is the point where you go negative and what is the [10:26] thing that you earn by making that choice. I mean, that is obviously what Ramaswamy is doing here [10:31] in a very aggressive way. And the fact that even folks in the state have, however tepidly, [10:38] Republicans on the ballot, Houston, Frank LaRose, another candidate in Ohio, have said they wouldn't [10:44] have put this ad up, distanced themselves from it, I think says a lot. We're going to see what [10:48] voters ultimately have to say. MSNOW White House reporter, Akayla Gardner, always great to have [10:53] you. Thank you for coming on. I want to get one more story in before we go to break. The Trump [10:57] administration is ratcheting up its fight against the news media. A White House correspondent for [11:01] The Independent has been blocked from serving as print pool reporter today after the president [11:05] lashed out at him during a press gaggle on Tuesday, calling him a, quote, sick person. We showed you [11:10] that clip in real time. A spokesperson for the White House defended the move, writing in a statement, [11:14] quote, no person and no journalist has the constitutional right to access the president's [11:18] Oval Office, Air Force One, or other sensitive and private facilities. Meanwhile, Axios is reporting [11:24] the White House sent a letter to Politico on Monday demanding that the news outlet retract, [11:28] quote, defamatory statements about alleged staff drama or, quote, face the consequences. A Politico [11:34] spokesperson did not return a message seeking comment. Politico, along with MSNOW and CNN, [11:39] had been banned from covering Trump in the Oval Office, but a judge earlier this month restored [11:43] access to the White House grounds to all three news outlets. Hey, it's Rachel. I am so glad to see you [11:49] at the end of that clip because this is where I get to tell you about a new way to watch all our clips [11:54] and all of our shows and everything on MSNOW on your phone or your tablet or your laptop. You can watch [12:01] things live or recorded. Plus, you can ask me and all the other hosts and reporters questions [12:05] in our weekly live chats. You can go to ms.now slash membership or just click below. Thanks.