With the November 3 midterm elections less than a week away, President Donald Trump is campaigning at full speed. He held back-to-back rallies in Lubbock and Corpus Christi, Texas, on October 27, and has a stop in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on October 29. Ohio is also on his schedule for the final week.
The Ted Cruz Supreme Court Remark
In Lubbock, Trump said he would nominate Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to the Supreme Court if a vacancy occurred. He called Cruz a "brilliant lawyer" and joked that Cruz would be confirmed unanimously because members of both parties would vote for him just to get him out of Congress.
What it was, and what it wasn't: USA Today, The Hill and Scripps News all described the comment as a joke about a hypothetical future vacancy. It was not a formal promise tied to Republicans winning the midterms. No Supreme Court seat is open right now. Cruz said in April that Trump had raised the idea of the Court with him during his first term.
The remark still carries political weight. Control of the Senate decides whether any future nominee can be confirmed, and both parties are using that point to fire up their voters in the closing days.
Tennessee: Where the Real Fight Is
Some Democrats are hoping for a surprise in Tennessee, but current reporting does not show Democrats on track to win the state. Tennessee is still strongly Republican statewide. The race to watch is the 9th Congressional District, based in Memphis. Reports say Republican State Sen. Brent Taylor is favored to flip the seat. Another Tennessee race has been shaken up after a Republican candidate acknowledged a "past indiscretion."
For Democrats, the realistic goal in Tennessee is to hold ground district by district and turn out voters in Memphis and Nashville, not to flip the state.
What to Watch Before November 3
- Trump's closing rallies in South Carolina and Ohio
- Senate control and what it means for any future Supreme Court nominee
- Turnout in Memphis and the outcome of Tennessee's 9th District
Sources: USA Today, The Hill, Scripps News, NBC News, ABC News, The New York Times, WBTV.
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