Donald Trump has said the midterm elections are the most important “in our lifetime” as millions of voters across America prepare to head to the polls.
The President delivered his final speech before voting stations open across the US at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC.
In the 54-minute-long speech, President Trump rounded on his Democrat opponents, branding them extremists and claiming the party had “nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history”.
However, he seemed to concede the sitting president “doesn’t win the midterms”, in an apparent move to manage expectations, although he added that “we gave this a very strong shot”.
The US President dedicated much of his final pitch to voters ahead of this week’s elections to building projects in Washington, DC, including the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which he has consistently blamed on vandals, though his own administration does not support that claim.
He joked that he was giving “serious thought” to renaming the monument after himself.
He also outlined plans to build a triumphal arch, which he said would be “more beautiful” than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but which has already sparked legal challenges.
Millions of US voters head to the polls on November 3 for the hotly contested congressional races, seen as a referendum on the controversial president’s record.
Speaking at the reopening of the reflecting pool, Mr Trump said: “As you know, this is the last day before the midterm elections, the most important midterm I believe in our lifetime.”
President Trump added: “The Democrat Party has nominated the most extreme and dangerous slate of candidates in American history.”
But he went on: “Usually, whoever the sitting president is, Republican or Democrat, good or bad, good president, great president. For some reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms. But we gave this a very strong shot.”
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in response: “Donald Trump’s pathetic closing message as his illegal war rages, his corruption mounts, and the inflation he caused persists.”
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Nonpartisan analysts generally favour Democrats’ chances of winning a House majority and see the Senate as more competitive.
According to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll, President Trump’s public approval rating is now 32 per cent, near a career low.
Voters say their main concern is the cost of living, with energy prices rising sharply since the US and Israeli war with Iran began, leaping 20 per cent over the year prior, according to the US Consumer Price Index.
Many Republican strategists privately said they wanted President Trump to focus his pitch to voters squarely on kitchen-table economic issues.
However, on a nationwide tour that has included 28 rallies in 19 states since October 1, President Trump has delivered lengthy asides on other topics, including projects ranging from a Potomac River golf course, the Kennedy Center and the physique of male Republican politicians.
The opening of President Trump’s more-than-$16million renovation of the 2,000 ft pool was delayed by peeling paint and algae growth that turned its crystal-blue waters green.
The administration defended contractors hired without competitive bidding and blamed vandalism for the issues. But prosecutors backed off the claims against a person accused of vandalism and a judge dismissed the case.
Facing a towering marble statue of Abraham Lincoln, President Trump held up pictures of the Washington landmark as he discussed the pool’s new bubblers and pipework, as well as efforts to defeat algae growth.
He said a new paint job “gives you great reflectivity, especially when the sun’s out.”
Among registered voters, some 50 per cent of independents said they saw their vote in congressional elections as a vote against President Trump, compared with 13 per cent who said it was a vote for President Trump and 33 per cent who said the president wasn’t a factor in their vote.
Some 78 per cent of voters said the rising cost of living would be very important or the most important issue in deciding how to vote.
Asked which party was better on the issue, voters in the poll picked Democrats over Republicans, 43 per cent to 32 per cent.
Democrats appear more enthusiastic about voting, which the party hopes will translate into higher turnout.
Some 49 per cent of Democratic voters said they are “very enthusiastic” about voting this year, compared with 33 per cent of Republicans.
The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll surveyed 1,765 US adults online and had a margin of error of two per cent points.
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