ABC News White House correspondent Karen Travers explained to host Brad Mielke why President Trump was still campaigning in North Carolina after outside Republican groups stopped spending there. From Start Here, October 21, 2026.
…in terms of its, you know, robust strength, then you want to get that enthusiasm high so they turn out. The worst thing that can happen for the president right now in Republicans is Republicans just stay home because they don't really feel great about what the president is doing right now. Well,
…You know, a couple weeks ago, GOP donors effectively threw up their hands and said, like, we're not spending any more money on this race. So is there a disconnect between what President Trump sees as possible and what Republican donors see as possible right now? What's the money telling us?
Yeah, the outside money was paused on behalf of that race. You know, they pulled it out in terms of ad spending in North Carolina in early October. The president himself has said that he is worried about that race. He's worried about Michael Watley, the Republican candidate, but thinks that he'd be a great senator. The
voters of North Carolina need to decide which candidate is going to fight for them.
I was in North Carolina with the president a couple weeks ago for a rally for Watley, and it was not a very big crowd compared to some of the other events the president has done out on the trail. That is an important race for Republicans because it is an open seat. Tom Tillis is the retiring…
Right. I mean, the fact that you're throwing money into Texas, not just into a Senate race, but now into a governor's race that at one point looked safe and even to house races in gerrymander districts that you gerrymandered so that they'd be safe Republican seats. Even some of those, according to…