President Donald Trump is continuing a spree of rallies ahead of the midterm elections. But with the lowest approval ratings of his presidency, he has been repeatedly heckled and interrupted by protesters during his appearances.
Trump has said that Republicans will overcome their disadvantage in the polls, which he said don't take into consideration his appearances.
“These fake polls, they don’t account for one thing. They don’t account for the fact that Trump is out campaigning,” he said during an October 3 rally in Dayton, Ohio. “They never thought this was going to happen.”
A few weeks from the November 3 midterms, the stakes are high for both major parties as all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are up for election.
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Democrats need to defend all of their seats and flip four others to take control of the Senate. In the House, 218 seats are required to take control, and Republicans currently hold a majority of 219 to 213.
Trump’s falling approval rating and an electorate that seems to be souring on the GOP in the polls are fueling Democrats' hopes of a November wave. Historically, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterms, particularly when the president is unpopular.
A loss for the GOP could reshape the remaining two years of Trump’s presidency, impacting how the administration proceeds with legislative priorities if Republicans lose their majority in either chamber of Congress, or both.
As the midterm campaign enters its final weeks, Newsweek looks at times when Trump has been heckled and disrupted by protesters during his rallies.
Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment outside regular working hours.
Kalispell, Montana
Majestic Valley Arena, October 14
Trump was speaking about Democrats when a heckler shouted from the audience, interrupting his speech.
The crowd responded by booing, and the president said: “That’s not nice! That’s not nice. Who is that guy?
“They are, they’re paid agitators. They get paid by the radical left. They get paid. They stick up, they say two words, they pick up a thousand bucks, then they go home, and their mom slaps the hell out of them, because they voted for us.”
Wasilla, Alaska
Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, October 13
While at a rally in Alaska, a heckler interrupted Trump as he discussed his 2024 election victory.
Trump stopped and said: “Sounds like we have a spoiled child.” The crowd then booed, and law enforcement removed the person.
“He’s now got the displeasure of going home to his mother and father who both voted for me, by the way.”
Youngstown, Ohio
Covelli Center, October 12
At a rally in Ohio, Trump was talking about the Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown when a woman wearing a “Release the Epstein Files” T-shirt began heckling during Trump’s speech at the Covelli Center.
In video footage that quickly went viral, multiple attendees began pulling at her clothing, one man appeared to shove her backwards, and another appeared to strike her in the face. The crowd chanted “USA, USA, USA.”
Trump said: “He’s a paid protester. They’re all paid. They got paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to mom.”
The president then spoke directly about the woman, whom he mistook for a man. “Look at him. Terrible. Don’t we love law enforcement? Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy. Wow.”
Syracuse, New York
Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center, October 9
During a rally for the Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who is challenging Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Trump faced multiple interruptions from protesters.
While speaking about his first inauguration on January 20, 2017, a commotion broke out in the crowd.
A woman who had heckled was escorted out by law enforcement. She raised both middle fingers to Trump and waved toward the crowd as she was removed.
“They’re all paid by the radical left scum,” Trump said. “Every one of ‘em's a loser.”
On a separate occasion during the same rally, Trump was heckled and responded by dismissing the person as a “stupid guy.”
San Antonio, Texas
Freeman Coliseum, October 7
During his third visit to Texas in less than a month as Trump campaigns for Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton in the closely watched race against Democrat state Representative James Talarico, Trump was interrupted multiple times by protesters.
"You know, many of these protesters are paid. You know that, right?" Trump said. "They're paid by enemies of our nation."
He made personal remarks about the protesters, remarking that one “gotta lose a lot of weight,” while another “is going back home to mom” but didn’t know that “his mom voted for Trump.”
The protesters were booed by the crowd and dismissed by the president, and in some cases, escorted out before Trump returned to his speech.
Some interactions turned physical, with kicks, shoving and hair pulling as the crowd jeered.
Gastonia, North Carolina
Gastonia Municipal Airport, September 16
In the middle of a speech during a rally in North Carolina while campaigning for Senate candidate Michael Whatley, Trump was interrupted by a heckler.
“What do you have, a bad guy or a good guy over there?” Trump said when the commotion broke out.
As the heckler was removed from the crowd, Trump said: “Where is he? Who is he? Show it to me. Show him. Let me see his face. Oh, it's a she. Hello. She's going home to mama."
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach Convention Center, August 22
At a rally in South Carolina, Trump’s remarks were interrupted by a heckler.
The president had been encouraging his supporters to “Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot. Just come and vote; it’s so important,” and went on to say that “I’m going to be impeached. They’re going to impeach me. They have no idea why.”
A heckler then interrupted, and the crowd responded with chants of "USA."
Trump then responded: “That person’s gonna go home to mom, gonna get scolded, because mom is voting for us."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and Dave Siminoff.