In the last full week before the midterm elections, the country's attention gathered in a small city on the Michigan shoreline, where a president on the road chose to go after a Democratic rival by name. Behind the rally sits a quieter fact: early voting has already opened in 43 states, so for many citizens the choice is no longer a future act but one being made now. A recent CBS News poll adds the weight of a majority's judgment, finding most Americans unconvinced by the president's handling of the economy and inflation. Whether that unease becomes a deciding force at the ballot box is the qu
Trump Attacks Abdul El-Sayed at Michigan Campaign Stop as Midterm Final Week Begins
Ballots are being cast now.
In the last full week before the midterm elections, the country's attention gathered in a small city on the Michigan shoreline, where a president on the road chose to go after a Democratic rival by name. Behind the rally sits a quieter fact: early voting has already opened in 43 states, so for many citizens the choice is no longer a future act but one being made now. A recent CBS News poll adds the weight of a majority's judgment, finding most Americans unconvinced by the president's handling of the economy and inflation. Whether that unease becomes a deciding force at the ballot box is the question the season now carries forward.
Port Huron, Michigan, became the stage for the president's final push in the last full week before the midterm elections. CBS News correspondent Nikole Killion reported that Trump went after Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed during his visit, signaling that Michigan is one of the places where the closing days are being fought.
The moment arrives as voting is already underway. Early voting is open in 43 states, meaning many Americans are casting ballots now rather than waiting for election day. The reporting does not spell out the specific words the president used or how El-Sayed answered, so those exchanges remain unknown here.
Hanging over the visit is a CBS News poll finding that most Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy and inflation. The report does not directly link those numbers to the Michigan races, but the pairing of an aggressive campaign swing with weak economic ratings defines the final week.
What comes next is clear in its uncertainty: whether that economic discontent moves voters to the polls, and whether it reshapes the close contests in Michigan before the count begins.
Port Huron, Michigan, was where President Trump stopped on the campaign trail as the final full week before the midterm elections got underway. CBS News correspondent Nikole Killion reported from the city, where the president went after Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
The timing matters. Candidates across the country are now in their last full stretch of campaigning, and the voting itself has already begun: early voting is underway in 43 states. For many voters the decision is no longer a matter of waiting for election day. Ballots are being cast now.
El-Sayed is a Democratic candidate in Michigan, and the president's decision to single him out at a campaign stop in the state signals that Michigan is part of how the final days are being fought. The report gives the setting and the target of the attack, but the material available does not lay out the specific words Trump used or how El-Sayed responded, so those details remain outside what can be said here.
The backdrop to the visit is a set of numbers from the latest CBS News poll. It finds that most Americans do not approve of the way Trump is handling the economy or inflation. Those are the issues that tend to sit at the center of midterm contests, and the poll places the president's standing on them below the line of majority approval as voters head to the polls.
That pairing, a president campaigning aggressively in a battleground-style state while his economic ratings sit under water, frames the closing week. The report does not tie the poll results directly to the Michigan races, and it does not say how the disapproval might translate into votes for any particular candidate.
What the reporting does establish is straightforward: the president was in Port Huron, he went after El-Sayed, early voting is open in 43 states, and a majority in the CBS News poll disapproves of his handling of the economy and inflation.
What to watch now is whether those economic disapproval numbers shape turnout, and whether they tighten the Michigan races in the days that remain before election day.
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Politics & Governance