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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Tuesday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Phillies 3, Braves 5
White Sox 6, Astros 3
Red Sox 0, Yankees 9
Cubs 0, Padres 8
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Panthers 1, Hurricanes 0
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2
Rangers 0, Bruins 3
Canucks 6, Oilers 5
Blackhawks 2, Golden Knights 5
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The Mormon wives are headed to the West Coast.
Hulu has announced the release date for The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives‘ upcoming spinoff series, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County. The brand-new show is set to premiere all 10 episodes of its first season on Nov. 12.
“A new group of dynamic young mothers in Orange County collide in a community where beliefs are not just their religion; they are their identity. While some defend their way of life, fighting against modernity, others embrace change, becoming a platform to disrupt the status quo,” according to the show’s official synopsis. “Scandals and secrets will be revealed, facades will crumble, and families and friendships will change forever on both sides of the battlefield as this group of strong, game-changing influencers comes together to build their answer to #MomTok.”
The cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County includes Ashleigh Pease, Aspyn Ovard, Avery Woods, Bobbi Althoff, Jordan McClanahan, Madison Bontempo, McCall DaPron and Salomé Andrea.
Additionally, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck trades in Utah for California as she moves from the original show to the cast of this new spinoff series.
Season 5 of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives debuted on Hulu Sept. 10. The show has already been renewed for seasons 6 and 7, despite many of its cast recently announcing supposed departures from the program.
Whitney Leavitt had long been planning to depart the show after season 5. In recent weeks, both Taylor Frankie Paul and Mikayla Matthews insinuated in social media posts that they would not return for future seasons. Fans assume with Affleck’s turn on the Orange County spinoff that she will also leave the original show. If so, this leaves Jessi Draper, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley and Miranda Hope as the four remaining original cast members on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
NATO military aircraft were scrambled in both Poland and Romania overnight into Wednesday morning, as Russia launched its latest deadly drone and missile attack on Ukraine, which authorities said set multiple fires in Kyiv and left a dense fog hanging over the capital.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched 188 drones — 86 of which were jet-powered — and an unspecified number of ballistic and cruise missiles into the country overnight. The air force said that five missiles and 155 drones were destroyed or neutralized, with impacts reported across 18 locations. Kyiv was the focus of the attack, the air force said.
At least three people were killed and six others injured by strikes in Kyiv, according to updates posted to Telegram by Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that the strikes caused multiple fires in the capital, noting the “dense fog” hanging over the city on Wednesday morning.
“This is a consequence of previous shelling. The remnants of smoke and soot have risen to the upper layers of the atmosphere, and a high-pressure system is temporarily pressing them down to the ground,” the SES wrote in a post to Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that the overnight attacks were “intense” and focused on “the energy infrastructure of Kyiv and the surrounding region.”
Fourteen people were injured nationwide, Zelenskyy said, with attacks reported in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Cherkasy regions.
Zelenskyy thanked foreign partners who have recently committed new air defense support to Ukraine. “Every interceptor missile truly saves lives. And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need. We must do everything to ensure that Russia’s strategy of ballistic and drone terror fails,” he wrote.
Beyond Ukraine’s western borders, the latest wave of Russian attacks prompted activity in Poland, Romania and Moldova.
In Moldova — which borders western Ukraine and is not a NATO member — the national police force said in a post to Facebook that a drone exploded and damaged a communications antenna in the Anenii Noi district in the center of the country. Police personnel were dispatched to the site to investigate the incident, police said.
Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command said in a post to X on Wednesday morning that military aviation was active in response to Russian strikes in western Ukraine “using jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Romania’s Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its forces “detected an aerial target maneuvering east of Izmail, on Ukrainian territory, near the river border with Romania.”
Two Spanish F-18 jets were scrambled “to monitor the situation,” the ministry added. “No incursions into national airspace were detected,” it said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its latest attacks on Ukraine were aimed at targets including “a communications center in Kyiv, energy infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region that support military production and infrastructure in the port of Izmail.”
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces also shot down at least 384 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
NATO military aircraft were scrambled in both Poland and Romania overnight into Wednesday morning, as Russia launched its latest deadly drone and missile attack on Ukraine, which authorities said set multiple fires in Kyiv and left a dense fog hanging over the capital.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched 188 drones — 86 of which were jet-powered — and an unspecified number of ballistic and cruise missiles into the country overnight. The air force said that five missiles and 155 drones were destroyed or neutralized, with impacts reported across 18 locations. Kyiv was the focus of the attack, the air force said.
At least three people were killed and six others injured by strikes in Kyiv, according to updates posted to Telegram by Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that the strikes caused multiple fires in the capital, noting the “dense fog” hanging over the city on Wednesday morning.
“This is a consequence of previous shelling. The remnants of smoke and soot have risen to the upper layers of the atmosphere, and a high-pressure system is temporarily pressing them down to the ground,” the SES wrote in a post to Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to Telegram that the overnight attacks were “intense” and focused on “the energy infrastructure of Kyiv and the surrounding region.”
Fourteen people were injured nationwide, Zelenskyy said, with attacks reported in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad, Rivne, Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Cherkasy regions.
Zelenskyy thanked foreign partners who have recently committed new air defense support to Ukraine. “Every interceptor missile truly saves lives. And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need. We must do everything to ensure that Russia’s strategy of ballistic and drone terror fails,” he wrote.
Beyond Ukraine’s western borders, the latest wave of Russian attacks prompted activity in Poland, Romania and Moldova.
In Moldova — which borders western Ukraine and is not a NATO member — the national police force said in a post to Facebook that a drone exploded and damaged a communications antenna in the Anenii Noi district in the center of the country. Police personnel were dispatched to the site to investigate the incident, police said.
Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command said in a post to X on Wednesday morning that military aviation was active in response to Russian strikes in western Ukraine “using jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Romania’s Defense Ministry said in a post to X that its forces “detected an aerial target maneuvering east of Izmail, on Ukrainian territory, near the river border with Romania.”
Two Spanish F-18 jets were scrambled “to monitor the situation,” the ministry added. “No incursions into national airspace were detected,” it said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its latest attacks on Ukraine were aimed at targets including “a communications center in Kyiv, energy infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region that support military production and infrastructure in the port of Izmail.”
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said its forces also shot down at least 384 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(NEW YORK) — A verdict has been reached in the murder trial of an Ohio man accused of fatally shooting his wife, who had called 911 to report that an intruder broke into their home and killed the mother of two.
Caleb Flynn, 40, who once appeared as a contestant on “American Idol” in 2013, was charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his wife, 37-year-old Ashley Flynn. He has pleaded not guilty.
The jury deliberated for nearly 2 1/2 hours before reaching a verdict Tuesday afternoon. The verdict has not yet been announced.
The former pastor called 911 early on Feb. 16 to report that his wife had been shot by an intruder at their home in Tipp City, north of Dayton. He was arrested three days later.
Prosecutors alleged that Caleb Flynn “executed” his wife by shooting her twice in the back of the head in bed so that he could be with his mistress and manipulated the crime scene to make it seem as if an intruder had broken in through the garage.
Miami County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Joseph pointed to evidence including the physical scene, 911 call, text messages between Caleb Flynn and his mistress discussing the end of his marriage and digital records from the night of the shooting, which he argued “leads straight to the defendant.”
“The evidence showed that being the victim would allow the defendant to keep his lucrative job working for Ashley’s family business, he would benefit from Ashley’s life insurance, and he could keep his position as a working worship leader with zero impact to his reputation within the church,” Joseph said during closing arguments Tuesday in the Miami County courtroom. “The evidence does not tell the story of an intruder.”
Joseph argued that key details in Caleb Flynn’s recounting of what happened that night changed, and at the time when he told investigators he was sleeping before being woken up by gunshots, “his devices say he was awake and moving.”
No gun has been found in the shooting, though Joseph told jurors that the recovery of the gun is not an element the state has to prove.
“But you heard the defendant kept a 9mm handgun in his truck console. His truck was parked in the garage. That console was up before law enforcement arrived and the gun was missing,” Joseph said. “You heard that Ashley was shot twice in her head with 9mm bullets.”
Defense attorney Patrick Mulligan argued during his closing that the state’s evidence is circumstantial, and that the only thing prosecutors proved was that Caleb Flynn was having an affair.
“Connecting a couple of meaningless dots doesn’t solve the case,” Mulligan told jurors.
Mulligan said Caleb Flynn voluntarily spoke with detectives three times when he “didn’t have to,” consented to a search of his home and phone and voluntarily gave his fingerprints.
“He wanted to figure out who shot Ashley,” Mulligan said.
On rebuttal, Miami County prosecuting attorney Paul Watkins urged jurors to use “common sense” and argued that the “evidence is clear” that Caleb Flynn is guilty.
The evidence in the case did not begin with the two gunshots, but months earlier, he argued, citing text messages between the defendant and his mistress, Alleigha Botner.
“The defendant, he had Alleigha, and he wanted out of his marriage,” Watkins said. “The evidence shows that his feelings toward Ashley went far beyond simply wanting a divorce. He hated her.”
Watkins said the language in the more than 100,000 messages Caleb Flynn and his mistress had sent each other “escalated” in months before the shooting while recounting some of the texts, including one from the defendant that said, “I want my girls full time in a life with you, but I can’t have both. So I weigh the options, and I choose you.”
“Not just hours before Ashley’s execution, the defendant wrote this: ‘Actions will come tomorrow. I’ll never not be scared to do this, as I never want to hurt my daughters. That will always be there. But this month away from you has terrified me beyond belief,'” Watkins said, continuing to read the message. “‘I know I can’t live without you, and so again, if this gives me a 1% chance to spend my life with you, it’s the 100% right decision. I choose you. I’m free.'”
“We are not here only because of someone’s words,” Watkins told jurors. “We are here because the defendant put actions to those words. The defendant made decisions.”
Twenty days before Ashley Flynn was killed, Watkins said Caleb Flynn removed security cameras that had been in his home for years, including one that would have captured an intruder coming in from the garage. The day of the shooting, Watkins said the evidence shows that the defendant was also deleting apps off his phone and trying to delete his messages.
“In the hours after Ashley was murdered, the defendant was not mourning the death of his wife. He was whispering to his mistress, ‘It didn’t happen the way we thought it would,'” Watkins said. “I am confident after you deliberate, your verdict will tell the world this case did not end the way the defendant thought it would. The defendant wanted a new life. He wanted Ashley out of their life, and he didn’t want to face the consequences of making the choice to pursue divorce.”
Caleb Flynn could be seen crying throughout the closing arguments. He did not testify during the trial and the defense called no witnesses.
He denied killing his spouse in an interview with police days after the deadly shooting, according to video shown during the trial.
His former mistress testified for the state during the trial, reading from some of the more than 100,000 messages they exchanged over her two days of testimony.
“If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Caleb Flynn said in one message from May 2025, Botner testified.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(NEW YORK) — A verdict has been reached in the murder trial of an Ohio man accused of fatally shooting his wife, who had called 911 to report that an intruder broke into their home and killed the mother of two.
Caleb Flynn, 40, who once appeared as a contestant on “American Idol” in 2013, was charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of his wife, 37-year-old Ashley Flynn. He has pleaded not guilty.
The jury deliberated for nearly 2 1/2 hours before reaching a verdict Tuesday afternoon. The verdict has not yet been announced.
The former pastor called 911 early on Feb. 16 to report that his wife had been shot by an intruder at their home in Tipp City, north of Dayton. He was arrested three days later.
Prosecutors alleged that Caleb Flynn “executed” his wife by shooting her twice in the back of the head in bed so that he could be with his mistress and manipulated the crime scene to make it seem as if an intruder had broken in through the garage.
Miami County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Joseph pointed to evidence including the physical scene, 911 call, text messages between Caleb Flynn and his mistress discussing the end of his marriage and digital records from the night of the shooting, which he argued “leads straight to the defendant.”
“The evidence showed that being the victim would allow the defendant to keep his lucrative job working for Ashley’s family business, he would benefit from Ashley’s life insurance, and he could keep his position as a working worship leader with zero impact to his reputation within the church,” Joseph said during closing arguments Tuesday in the Miami County courtroom. “The evidence does not tell the story of an intruder.”
Joseph argued that key details in Caleb Flynn’s recounting of what happened that night changed, and at the time when he told investigators he was sleeping before being woken up by gunshots, “his devices say he was awake and moving.”
No gun has been found in the shooting, though Joseph told jurors that the recovery of the gun is not an element the state has to prove.
“But you heard the defendant kept a 9mm handgun in his truck console. His truck was parked in the garage. That console was up before law enforcement arrived and the gun was missing,” Joseph said. “You heard that Ashley was shot twice in her head with 9mm bullets.”
Defense attorney Patrick Mulligan argued during his closing that the state’s evidence is circumstantial, and that the only thing prosecutors proved was that Caleb Flynn was having an affair.
“Connecting a couple of meaningless dots doesn’t solve the case,” Mulligan told jurors.
Mulligan said Caleb Flynn voluntarily spoke with detectives three times when he “didn’t have to,” consented to a search of his home and phone and voluntarily gave his fingerprints.
“He wanted to figure out who shot Ashley,” Mulligan said.
On rebuttal, Miami County prosecuting attorney Paul Watkins urged jurors to use “common sense” and argued that the “evidence is clear” that Caleb Flynn is guilty.
The evidence in the case did not begin with the two gunshots, but months earlier, he argued, citing text messages between the defendant and his mistress, Alleigha Botner.
“The defendant, he had Alleigha, and he wanted out of his marriage,” Watkins said. “The evidence shows that his feelings toward Ashley went far beyond simply wanting a divorce. He hated her.”
Watkins said the language in the more than 100,000 messages Caleb Flynn and his mistress had sent each other “escalated” in months before the shooting while recounting some of the texts, including one from the defendant that said, “I want my girls full time in a life with you, but I can’t have both. So I weigh the options, and I choose you.”
“Not just hours before Ashley’s execution, the defendant wrote this: ‘Actions will come tomorrow. I’ll never not be scared to do this, as I never want to hurt my daughters. That will always be there. But this month away from you has terrified me beyond belief,'” Watkins said, continuing to read the message. “‘I know I can’t live without you, and so again, if this gives me a 1% chance to spend my life with you, it’s the 100% right decision. I choose you. I’m free.'”
“We are not here only because of someone’s words,” Watkins told jurors. “We are here because the defendant put actions to those words. The defendant made decisions.”
Twenty days before Ashley Flynn was killed, Watkins said Caleb Flynn removed security cameras that had been in his home for years, including one that would have captured an intruder coming in from the garage. The day of the shooting, Watkins said the evidence shows that the defendant was also deleting apps off his phone and trying to delete his messages.
“In the hours after Ashley was murdered, the defendant was not mourning the death of his wife. He was whispering to his mistress, ‘It didn’t happen the way we thought it would,'” Watkins said. “I am confident after you deliberate, your verdict will tell the world this case did not end the way the defendant thought it would. The defendant wanted a new life. He wanted Ashley out of their life, and he didn’t want to face the consequences of making the choice to pursue divorce.”
Caleb Flynn could be seen crying throughout the closing arguments. He did not testify during the trial and the defense called no witnesses.
He denied killing his spouse in an interview with police days after the deadly shooting, according to video shown during the trial.
His former mistress testified for the state during the trial, reading from some of the more than 100,000 messages they exchanged over her two days of testimony.
“If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Caleb Flynn said in one message from May 2025, Botner testified.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Charles Kelley, the co-lead vocalist and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, has been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer.
In a video he shared on Instagram Tuesday alongside his wife, Cassie McConnell Kelley, the singer said he has multiple myeloma.
“Hey everybody, just wanted to give a quick update on some health issues I’m dealing with,” he said. “I had this — a couple random rib fractures that happened, which sparked my doctor into having me do several different blood tests.”
Kelley continued, “And one of the blood tests we did, they found a blood cancer in there called multiple myeloma and it’s rare.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that multiple myeloma is a type of blood cancer where too many plasma cells crowd “out normal cells in the bone marrow that make red blood cells, platelets and other white blood cells.”
The CDC adds that it’s the most common type of plasma cell tumor and develops in the bone marrow and can spread throughout the body. According to the agency, scientists are still unclear about why some people get myeloma and others don’t, but age is the most significant risk factor.
Men are also more likely than women to develop myeloma, according to the CDC.
Despite the diagnosis, the “Need You Now” singer said he is hopeful.
“I’m young, I feel healthy, and the treatments, I will have to say, have just come so far, even in the past five years that, even a life expectancy is just far exceeds what it used to be,” he said, adding that he has leaned on a friend of his who is also diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
He talked about upcoming shows lined up with Lady A, including several Christmas shows. He also mentioned that he has the first six months of treatment but didn’t specify when that will be. However, Kelley said that he doesn’t believe that it will be “too super invasive.”
“I can still work,” he said. “I think physically I will feel like myself. I’ll have tough days, but you know, I wanna keep working. Even going out last weekend after even knowing the news, it was like this is where I belong.”
Kelley continued, “I need to be happy and doing what I love to do and spending and soaking up as much time with my family as I can as well. But I’m hopeful, I really am and we just want to let you all know and I’ll try to let you in when I feel like it’s appropriate throughout the journey and it’s just another hurdle and you know I’m pretty confident that we’re going to get through it.”
Previously, Kelley has been open about his sobriety journey. After starting recovery in August 2022, he has spoken in depth about the process with his fans.
“It helped me so much,” he said. “I think in the same spirit of the way we’ve kind of shared a lot of my sobriety journey just getting this stuff off your chest is so freeing and it takes the power away from it a little but that we wanted to let you know what was going on.”
He added, “We’re going to get through it. I think in sobriety, it’s all about one day at a time and that we’re not in control and so that’s the way we’re looking at it.
In the comments section of Kelley’s post, his fellow band members shared their support.
Hillary Scott wrote, “The strongest duo right here! Love y’all so much! You’ve got this!”
Dave Haywood added, “Covering you in prayer brother. Love y’all. We’re all here for you!”
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration can continue deporting migrants to third countries without prior notice after the Supreme Court on Tuesday paused a lower court order blocking the controversial policy.
In granting the government’s request for a stay, the high court on Tuesday cleared federal officials to enforce rapid third-country removals for now while also agreeing to take up the case for oral argument in December.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel for the First Circuit ruled that immigrants were not receiving adequate notice before being deported to nations where they have no ties or connections.
“An individual’s right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and a meaningful opportunity to contest that destination,” wrote Circuit Judge Seth Aframe.
About 25,000 people have been deported to so-called third countries during the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown, according to the immigrant rights organizations Human Rights First and Refugees International.
According to immigration lawyers and advocates, third-country removals are not new, but they are rare. In recent months, the Trump administration has ramped up third-country deportations after creating a web of formal deals with nearly three dozen countries to deport asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants with criminal records with little to no warning.
ABC News previously interviewed a group of Latin American men who were deported to the Central African Republic and were not informed of their destination until several hours into the flight.
“I feel kidnapped,” one of the men, Aristides Fernandez Garcia, said. “They have violated all the rights that exist in life, because we are human beings.”
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
The creators of Heated Rivalry are giving back.
Accent Aigu Entertainment, the production company behind the hit hockey romance series, has launched the Irina Foundation in support of LGBTQIA+ and underserved communities in sports and the arts.
Kate Spade New York is the charity’s inaugural donor, with men’s grooming brand Harry’s also named as an early supporter of the fund.
“For many of us, some of life’s most meaningful moments happen on a team, in a studio or on a stage – places where we find our people, discover what lights us up and feel like we belong,” AAE co-founders Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady say in a statement. “We’ve been incredibly lucky to build something we love and along the way find a community that means so much to us. The Foundation is our way of giving back. We’re grateful to Kate Spade and Harry’s for seeing that vision and helping us make it possible.”
The foundation takes its name from the charity created by Heated Rivalry characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series. Shane and Ilya’s charity is named after Ilya’s late mother, Irina, who struggled with her mental health.
“We chose the name Irina Foundation because, at the heart of Heated Rivalry, Irina represents something much bigger. She reminds us that behind every struggle is a person who deserves to be seen, loved and supported,” said Jayme Alter Wilson, president of Accent Aigu Entertainment. “The Foundation is our way of honouring that message. We hope to channel the love people have for the world Rachel has created, and for Shane and Ilya, into something that can make a meaningful difference in the real world.”
Season 2 of Heated Rivalry, starring Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, is currently in production.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(WASHINGTON) — With just weeks until the high-stakes midterm elections, President Donald Trump is set to headline rallies in Republican-favoring states this week — with critics asking why the president is not instead focusing on key battleground states instead.
Some Republicans and experts say the goal is to boost midterm election turnout among Republican voters more generally who might have been less motivated to vote this year, and that this sort of travel to “safe” states during midterm years is not unprecedented. One expert said Trump’s low national approval ratings could be seen as a risk — and a reason he’s not stumping in more competitive areas.
Trump will join a “Midterm Rally” on Thursday, Oct. 1 in Durant, Oklahoma, and another in Mobile, Alabama on Friday, Oct. 2, according to announcements by the Republican National Committee last week.
Both rallies will be in congressional districts and states that appear to favor the Republican Party in the 2026 midterm elections.
Durant, for instance, is located in Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressional District, which Trump won by more than 50 percentage points in 2024, according to data compiled by the Associated Press. This district, held by GOP Rep. Josh Brecheen, is also expected to be solidly Republican in the midterms, as are the statewide governor and Senate races, according to ABC News race ratings.
Mobile, meanwhile, was redrawn after mid-decade redistricting to be in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District. The redrawn district, favoriting Republicans, would have voted for Trump in 2024 by around 40 points.
The 2nd Congressional District, which formerly included part of Mobile, is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures, but now leans Republican post-redistricting, according to ABC News race ratings — although Figures and his supporters plan to put up a fight to hold the seat. And the statewide Senate and governor races in Alabama are considered solid Republican, according to ABC News race ratings.
Trump will also be heading to states with more competitive races. Later in October, he is set to attend rallies in Ohio, Iowa and Nebraska — states that voted for him in 2024 but are hosting competitive Senate races in 2026.
Trump, asked about the upcoming red-state campaign trips in the Oval Office on Monday, said “we have great people” in those races, and slammed the Democratic candidates.
But Democrats are arguing that Trump is going to red states like Alabama because Republicans are nervous.
“We’re scaring the hell out of them,” Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former Sen. Doug Jones argued on MS NOW on Sunday. “They think … Alabama’s a firewall. Now they’ve got to protect a firewall. Well, it’s not a firewall anymore.”
But Republicans say that Trump’s red state rallies will benefit the GOP more broadly.
An official with the RNC made the case to ABC News on Thursday that the rallies will help turnout in neighboring media markets in Texas and Florida. Republicans are trying to hold on to a Senate seat and governorships in both states.
Kyle Kondik, an elections analyst and the managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, told ABC News that he found the Oklahoma and Alabama events to be “head-scratchers,” and didn’t buy the media market argument: “Why not just go to Texas and Florida?”
Separately, RNC National Press Secretary Natalie Baldassarre said in an appearance on Newsmax on Monday that the GOP has the “resources” and “record cash on hand, so the goal here is to drive people to the polls.”
Georgia-based Republican strategist Ryan Mahoney told ABC News he also felt Trump’s travel to red states was about turning out voters who otherwise might not show up. He added that some Republican-base voters may be disenchanted by Trump because of the higher cost of living — an issue that has plagued the president, according to recent polling.
“There’s no shortage of states, solid-red districts, solid-red states [that] are starting to suffer with Republican base voters who lack enthusiasm and motivation to get out and vote,” Mahoney said.
Still, Mahoney said the GOP should be more focused on competitive races: “it’s not a good look for Republicans.”
Matthew Dallek, a political historian at George Washington University, told ABC News there’s merit to the argument that Trump will turn out unmotivated GOP voters with these rallies.
“Trump has this ability, at least when he’s on the ballot, to turn out some people who don’t typically vote, to kind of remake the electorate to some extent,” he said.
But Dallek also pointed to low national approval ratings for Trump — just 33% of Americans approve of Trump and 67% disapprove, according to a recent CNN poll — that he said have created a “toxic” brand for the president, which he said could be why he is not stumping in more competitive areas.
Kondik was also skeptical that Trump appearing “front and center” at rallies may be helpful for unmotivated GOP voters who have fallen out of the president’s coalition.
From a historical perspective, however, Dallek pointed out that it’s not unprecedented for a sitting president to head to “safe” territory during a midterms election cycle. He pointed to Barack Obama, who, for instance, attended rallies in 2010 in Los Angeles and Maryland, as well as George W. Bush in 2006 (who attended rallies in states such as Indiana and Georgia.
“[Trump] is following a pattern that many of his predecessors have followed, which is when they are unpopular in midterm elections, to the extent they travel, they go to their base,” he said.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Benjamin Siegel and Gaby Vinick contributed to this report.
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