President Trump is in Springfield, Missouri, Friday evening to appear at a rally for Josh Hawley, the Republican challenging Senate Claire McCaskill in this year’s election. Watch the livestream in the player above. Coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET.
McCaskill is considered to be one of the most vulnerable Democrats up for re-election, as she represents a state which voted for Mr. Trump by nearly 20 points in 2016. A recent CBS News Battleground Tracker poll found that McCaskill and Hawley are neck-and-neck, as each has 45 percent support among likely voters. CBS News rates the McCaskill-Hawley race as a “toss up.”
In previous rallies for other Republican Senate candidates, Mr. Trump has hit Democratic incumbents for not supporting his Supreme Court nominees, encouraging Republicans to vote in November to help maintain a conservative Supreme Court. McCaskill declared her opposition to Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, on Wednesday, citing his positions on campaign finance.
“While I am also uncomfortable about his view on presidential power as it relates to the rule of law, and his position that corporations are people, it his allegiance to the position that unlimited donations and dark anonymous money, from even foreign interests, should be allowed to swamp the voices of individuals that has been the determining factor in my decision to vote no on his nomination,” McCaskill said in a statement.
Hawley has said that he would support Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and continued to support his nomination amid allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman when they were both in high school. “The Democrats have played politics with this entire process and were opposed to Brett Kavanaugh before he was even nominated. They don’t care about the truth,” Hawley said on Monday, according to St. Louis Public Radio. “I believe allegations of sexual misconduct should never be disregarded. That’s why it’s important that both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh be heard immediately and under oath.”
Hawley also criticized McCaskill on Wednesday, writing on Twitter that her decision was “no surprise” and that McCaskill is “just another Washington liberal.”
Mr. Trump’s visit to Missouri also comes after The New York Times reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein allegedly suggested recording the president and invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from office.
Mr. Trump visited Las Vegas to rally for Republican candidates in Nevada on Thursday evening, and appeared at several events in that state Friday afternoon.
The rally is at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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