President Trump is visiting Richmond, Kentucky, Saturday evening to rally for Republican Rep. Andy Barr, who is facing an uphill re-election battle against Democrat Amy McGrath. Mr. Trump is traveling to Kentucky after meeting with pastor Andrew Brunson, who was imprisoned in Turkey for two years and released on Friday.
Mr. Trump welcomed Brunson back to the United States Saturday afternoon with a meeting at the White House. “You really galvanized this country,” Mr. Trump told Brunson as they sat together in the Oval Office. “Right now, the whole world is a fan of yours.”
Mr. Trump may discuss Brunson’s release at the rally Saturday, which is primarily focused on the midterm elections. Barr’s race is one of the most closely watched House races in the country. Although he represents a district which voted for Mr. Trump by 15 points in 2016, McGrath is an unusually formidable Democratic challenger.
A former fighter pilot and first-time candidate, McGrath has garnered local and national attention for her viral campaign videos, small dollar donations and refusal to run negative ads. The CBS News Battleground Tracker rates this race as “Edge Republican.”
How to watch President Trump’s rally tonight:
- What: President Trump “Make America Great Again” rally in Kentucky
- Where: Alumni Coliseum, Richmond, Kentucky
- When: 7 p.m. ET
- How to watch: On CBSN, in the player above
Former Vice President Joe Biden was in Kentucky on Friday to rally for McGrath. At the rally, Biden called the 2018 midterm elections “a battle for America’s soul,” and that “this election is bigger than politics.” The former vice president is one of the few national Democratic figures who is able to reliably appeal to the kinds of white, working-class voters which Mr. Trump won over in 2016. Biden is also considered to be a potential presidential candidate in 2020.
Mr. Trump is likely to focus much of his rally this evening on his administration’s accomplishments, as well as exhortations to Republican voters to turn out in November. In recent rallies, Mr. Trump has encouraged voters to think of the midterm elections as a referendum on his presidency.
The president has held four other rallies this week in four different states, as part of his effort to campaign for Republicans before the midterm elections. On Friday, he held a rally for Republican candidates in Lebanon, Ohio.
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