Trump tries new midterm message to supporters: ‘Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot’
Add to Google Trump tells voters to ‘pretend’ he is on the ballot ahead of South Carolina Senate runoff 01:51 Get more news on Share Add to Google Aug. 21, 2026, 11:01 PM EDT By Kyla Guilfoil President Donald Trump wants his supporters to think beyond his endorsed candidates and imagine that he is on the ballot when they vote in this year’s midterm elections .
The president made his new pitch Friday night in South Carolina at a rally in support of Sen. Darline Graham , urging the crowd to back her in Tuesday’s Senate GOP runoff.
“The problem that we have is, they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot, but when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote for senators, congressmen, and other Republicans,” Trump said.
“So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot. Just come and vote. It’s so important,” he said.
Trump suggested the MAGA faithful also take that approach in other elections as well, saying, “We have to get Darline and other people elected.”
The president drove home the point near the end of his remarks about an hour later by telling supporters to think of him when they vote.
“I am on the ballot. We’re all on the ballot. Our country’s on the ballot,” Trump said.
That message to supporters comes as six of Trump’s endorsed candidates failed to earn the Republican nomination in their respective primaries for House or governor this month. Before August, only three Trump-backed candidates lost their bids in those contests so far this year.
The president’s endorsement of Graham for a full six-year term did not secure her a majority of the vote in the initial primary, and some of Trump’s supporters at Friday’s rally told NBC News they still had reservations about her following a poor debate performance on Tuesday.
During his nearly 90 minutes onstage Friday, Trump made no mention of the other person who actually is on the ballot in Tuesday’s runoff: GOP Rep. Ralph Norman.
Kyla Guilfoil Kyla Guilfoil is a breaking news reporter on the politics team for NBC News Digital.
5News aggregated this summary from the outlet’s public feed. The full article, with all the context, is on www.nbcnews.com — the content belongs to NBC News.
