President Donald Trump is reshuffling his closing campaign schedule, and on Thursday he explained one of the changes to reporters in his own words.
Trump scrapped a Saturday rally in Salina, Kansas, and a planned event in Dubuque, Iowa. Tele-rallies from Mar-a-Lago will take their place.
He made the remarks while returning from a rally in South Carolina. His destination was the White House, where he and First Lady Melania Trump planned to attend a Halloween event.
A Reuters reporter asked whether he had called off the Kansas trip because he was “sick of travel.”
Trump bristled at the question. “Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,” he said. He asked the reporter which outlet he represented and called him a “dope.”
The president then criticized the reporter’s physical condition. “Look at this guy. He’s way out of shape. Look at how badly …,” Trump said. He added, “You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.”
Trump walked down the line of journalists and recapped the exchange for them. “I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well. I’m going to do a tele-rally. Tomorrow I’m doing Florida,” he said.
He then offered his explanation. “I don’t feel like I have to go to Kansas,” Trump said.
The 80-year-old president also addressed a question about his health.
“You’re not going to Kansas, sir, are you feeling well?” Trump said, repeating what he had been asked. He gave his own answer: “You’ve been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect.”
Trump kept the door open to a change of plans. He said he might travel to another state “if something else comes up.”
The Kansas event was meant to help Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who is defending his seat in a closer contest than many expected.
Marshall spoke with reporters Thursday and offered his own take on the cancellation. He said the president “probably got better places to spend his time.”
A CNN/SSRS poll released the same day shows Marshall trailing Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton. Hamilton holds 49 percent to Marshall’s 45 percent.
The Kansas decision comes amid a heavy travel schedule. Trump has held a rally almost daily as the midterm elections draw near, with stops in South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio and Florida.
On Tuesday, he held two rallies in Texas for Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who faces Democratic state Representative James Talarico.
Trump has also strayed from his prepared remarks on the trail. At a Sunday rally in Michigan, he told the crowd about rapper Nicki Minaj’s “a**,” a moment that drew headlines.
In Ohio, he spoke at length about his reaction to the physique of Senator Jon Husted. According to accounts of his rallies, the story has grown longer and more detailed with each retelling.
Trump’s next stop is Florida on Friday. He will campaign for Representative Byron Donalds, who is running for governor, and Senator Ashley Moody, who is running for reelection to the Senate.
He is also expected to return to Michigan before Election Day. No rally there has been officially announced.
Republicans are defending their majority in the House of Representatives, while Democrats are working to win enough seats to take back control of the Senate.
