By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-11 03:31:58 | Updated at 2026-10-11 04:55:57
2 hours ago
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.—President Donald Trump campaigned in Tennessee—a state he won three times—for Republicans on the ballot in the midterms this fall.
Trump, who is in the middle of a 32-day campaign blitz tour to keep his party in control of the House and Senate, urged voters at the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville on Oct. 10 to “pretend that I’m running and go out” to vote.
Contests on the ballot include the governor’s race between Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Democrat Jerri Green, the U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Sen. Bill Hagerty and Democrat Marquita Bradshaw, and U.S. House races scattered across nine Congressional districts.
“I don’t actually have to be in Tennessee because Bill Hagerty’s going to win,” Trump said. “Marsha is going to win. You better win, Marsha.”
Trump’s speech to thousands of in-person supporters, who braved the scattered remnants of Hurricane Isaias to attend, happened days before early in-person voting is scheduled to begin in the Volunteer State.
“You got to get out to vote because the communists, socialists, Democrats—they will cheat, they will do whatever, and we have to get out,” he said.
Highly watched Tennessee races include the state’s 5th Congressional District, where Republican farmer and veterinarian Charlie Hatcher defeated incumbent Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) in the primary and will face off against Columbia Mayor Chaz Molder.
Many eyes are on Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District race between Republican Brent Taylor and Democrat Justin Pearson after controversial redistricting flipped the seat from being a Democratic stronghold of Memphis to a Republican-leaning seat, spanning over 200 miles between the Memphis and Nashville metro areas.
The Cook Political Report ranked races for the governor, the Senate, and Tennessee’s 5th, 7th, and 9th Congressional Districts as “Solid Republican” wins.
Early voting in Tennessee begins on Oct. 14.
Trump supporters braved wet and windy weather to see the president speak at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., on Oct. 10, 2026. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
Trump has been campaigning heavily for Republicans, hoping to change the historical pattern of how a president’s party often loses in the midterms.
“But for some reason, when you have a president, Republican or Democrat, it’s just brutal,” Trump said. “They don’t seem to win the midterms, but we’re going to turn that tradition around because we have done more than any president in two years. There has never been a front two years like we’ve had.”
The president touted his “golden age” of $21 trillion being invested in the United States, promoted highest-ever incomes, talked about how poverty rates of people of color are at their lowest in U.S. history, and repeated his promise to give every adult citizen a $5,000 dividend payment if Republicans keep the House and Senate.
“If the Democrats win, you will have a 1929-style economic depression,” Trump said.
A merchandise booth at a Trump rally inside F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., on Oct. 10, 2026. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
While on stage, the president joked about calling the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.”
Trump also vouched for Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) who is running against former state Rep. Charles Booker, a Democrat, for Kentucky’s open U.S. Senate seat. The winner will succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who is retiring.
Musician Kid Rock introduced Trump to thousands of supporters inside the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville on Saturday.
“If you want to stick to the America First agenda, keep America free, and reaffirm that freedom of religion is about as American as it gets—and that we are not, and we will never be, one nation under Mohammed, because we are, and we always will be, one nation under God … Friends, neighbors, you know what to do,” Kid Rock said as the audience cheered. “Show up, vote red.”
Around three dozen anti-Trump protesters stood across the street from where rally attendees lined up to see President Donald Trump at the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., on Oct. 10, 2026. Jacki Thrapp/The Epoch Times
Approximately three dozen counter-protesters stood in the rain near the arena waving items like a Palestinian flag and posters that read, “Are Gas Prices Lower Now?” and “ICE OUT.”
This is the president’s second visit to the Volunteer State in two weeks.
Trump attended the Texas Longhorns and Tennessee Volunteers football game at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Sept. 26, alongside Hagerty and Blackburn.
Before the game, Air Force One made a low flyover above the 101,000-seat stadium as players were warming up on the field for the highly anticipated SEC matchup.
