Pres. Trump to hold midterm rally in Fort Myers on Friday

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - President Donald Trump is scheduled to host a midterm campaign rally in Fort Myers, Fla. on Friday afternoon.

GOP organizers said the event aims to mobilize Republican voters for the November elections.

“The midterms are a game of turnout, and nobody turns out voters quite like President Trump,” said Emma Hall, RNC Southeast Regional Communications Director.

The event will be held at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena, beginning at 2 p.m. eastern.

Southwest Florida is considered one of the most Republican corners of a state that has been known as a GOP stronghold for years.

Hall said the election is critical for the party.

“Protecting our majorities in the House and the Senate is critical to continuing the Republican agenda of tax cuts, safe communities, secure borders, you know, investment booms in states like Florida,” she said.

Republican gubernatorial nominee and Congressman Byron Donalds is also scheduled to appear at the rally.

Donalds and other GOP candidates in the state have been favored in polling for months. But, a new University of North Florida poll found that the party’s leads in the gubnatorial and U.S. Senate races have been lessening.

José Javier Rodríguez, a Democratic candidate running for Florida attorney general, said he sees the president’s visit as a sign of desparation.

“It’s clear that they feel a little desperation to get turnout,” he said. “And to kind of actually give Republicans a reason to vote Republican instead of crossing the aisle. But it’s unclear why they’ve chosen the president as the messenger when, you know, he’s sort of the billboard for broken promises on the economic front.”