President Donald Trump has embarked on a mini-tour of midterm rallies in deep-red states, stopping in Durant, Oklahoma, the heart of the Choctaw Nation.
The Republican National Committee organized the tour to boost Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. RNC representatives say they chose Durant because of its proximity to Texas. The city is in southern Oklahoma, around a dozen miles from the Texas border.
Despite persistent rain Thursday, the event hosted at the Choctaw Event Center drew thousands from across both states.
By the time President Trump appeared, more than two hours after his pre-show lineup of speakers left the stage, he had one main message for the people there: Vote Republican.
"I'm asking you to just – we do great when I'm on the ballot, when I'm not on the ballot, people don't go and vote so much," Trump said. "Pretend I'm running, please. If we don't win, they'll end up impeaching me."
Other speakers included Oklahoma Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei, T.W. Shannon, running for Lt. Governor, and Cyndi Byrd, running for State Treasurer. Two members of Trump's cabinet also spoke: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach.
Trump delivers his message
Trump, in a more than one-hour and at times rambling speech, berated Democrats for what he called failed policies that have increased the cost of living.
"The radical Left Democrats handed us the Dark Age of America, and we quickly turned it into the Golden Age of America," he said. "It's the Golden Age."Then he boasted about policies he said brought about this Golden Age. He mentioned efforts to cut taxes on tips, the tariffs he raised on imports. and his immigration policies.
He repeated his claim that he would give $5,000 to every U.S. adult if Republicans retain control of Congress after November's midterms. Such a move would cost more than $1 trillion.
The president also touted his support for a proposed aluminum smelter planned for Inola.
Earlier Thursday, Trump visited a Peterbilt truck factory in Denton, Texas. His speech in Durant emphasized his push for American manufacturing, including a planned $4 billion aluminum smelter in the northeastern Oklahoma town of Inola.
"You cannot get aluminum in the United States," Trump told the crowd. "You're going to build the largest aluminum factory, perhaps in the world, and you're going to make a fortune with it. A lot of jobs, a lot of everything."
Trump, the Oklahoma state government and Gov. Kevin Stitt back the project, and Emirates Global Aluminum, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, is financing it. It has been met with pushback from the town's residents and the encompassing Muscogee Nation.
Trump said if Inola residents dislike it, they can blame him. As a result, he said, he would lose two counties in Oklahoma, referencing the fact he has won all 77 counties in the state for his past three presidential runs.
"I know the people that are financing it. So a lot of people talk about financing, but they have no money. This is unlimited money," Trump said. "You're going to find it to be amazing."
Rallying the base
Trump also worked to rally the crowd behind Republican candidates in Oklahoma's upcoming general election. He acknowledged that Oklahoma's statewide elections would likely favor Republicans, but he said some midterm races across the country were less certain.
"We have to be careful because we can lose all of the great things that we've done," Trump said. "We really have great candidates, but we have some tight races. I don't know what's going on."
One of the candidates he endorsed was State Auditor Cindy Byrd, who is running for State Treasurer. She echoed his sentiments about the midterms.
"In Oklahoma, we are still solid red in all 77 counties, and we've got to keep it that way," Byrd said. "No drift toward purple."
And it was a sentiment that worked for voters in attendance.
"When he puts his stamp of approval on these candidates, we believe that they will legitimately toe the line for our party, for our conservative values, for our Christian values," said Mona Adkisson, a Seminole Nation citizen who made the trip down to Durant from Seminole.
Who came out and why?
Thousands of people waited in the rain for much of the day to get into the event center for an event that eventually started roughly two hours late.
But that couldn't dampen their spirits.
"We didn't want to miss the opportunity to see our awesome president, Donald Trump," said attendee Elisa Swinson.
She and her family drove in from Wellston, about two hours away from the venue. They got in line at 10:30 a.m., protecting themselves from the rain with a large umbrella.
Connor Swinson, her husband, said their presence was a display of patriotic support and of the "true meaning of voters' rights."
Many attendees in line said they thought Trump picked Oklahoma because of the broad support he has received from voters, both in 2016 and again 2024.
The rally was also a who's who of conservative Republicans hoping to pick up some of the president's shine.
Statewide candidates for office like Mazzei, Shannon and Byrd made remarks. Current Gov. Kevin Stitt, Sen. James Lankford and four of the five members of Oklahoma's House of Representatives delegation were shouted out by the President.
Sen. Kevin Hern, who is running to keep the senate seat he filled when Mullin joined Trump's cabinet, also spoke.
Stephanie Bice, locked in what some have described as a tight race in Congressional District 5, did not seem to be in attendance at the rally roughly 150 miles from her district.
The crowd included several notable non-politician Oklahomans, including oil executive Harold Hamm and former University of Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer.
Former NBA stars Dennis Rodman and Enes Kanter Freedom, who played two seasons for the OKC Thunder, also attended. The men received multiple shoutouts from Trump, including jokes about the Conservative push to prevent transgender athletes from playing on teams alongside cisgender women.
"They're the only two men that we're going to allow to play in women's sports," Trump said.
Ryandal Gilmore, who is Choctaw, and his 12-year-old step-daughter, Alexandria Edwards, who is Chickasaw, also arrived early to get a good spot in line. Edwards' sweatshirt was soaked by the time the crowd started inching toward the front doors.
"I wanted her to hear it from her own perspective," Gilmore said. "Anything that the president or, more importantly, what Mazzei has to say because, you know, local government and state government affect your life a lot more than the president will."
Edwards said she was looking forward to seeing the president in person.
"This is Durant," she said. "Nothing exciting ever happens here."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
