Trump rallies faithful in Bullhead City, Arizona, with early voting underway
- Trump barnstorms a ruby-red Arizona county as HighGround's poll shows his hand-picked proxies trailing by 12 to 17 points — in a state he won by a hair in 2024.
- The 'Big Lie' of 2020 gets a sequel: Trump blames cartels, copper, and Katie Hobbs' veto pen for a looming GOP wipeout, while ignoring the real culprit — the party's own voters staying home.
- GOP candidates enjoy a stunning 70.6% support from their own base — which is a bit like bragging about a C+ on a report card, and it's a death sentence in a swing state.
- Trump's 50% copper tariff was meant to be a silver bullet, but the only thing 'roaring back to health' is the talking point; the state's bellwether races are trending enemy green.
- The Laughlin Bullhead International Airport rally feels less like a campaign stop and more like a closing argument at a trial where the jury is already out — and buying snacks.
Brief Summary
President Trump parachuted into Bullhead City, Arizona, to pump up the Republican base and pretend the last three weeks of early voting aren't shaping up to be a GOP funeral procession. He lavished praise on Rep. Andy Biggs, the gubernatorial candidate, and took a victory lap on his copper tariffs while accusing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs of being the cartels' favorite pen pal. The message? A vote for Democrats is a one-way ticket to an open-border, fentanyl-fueled hellscape. But the facts on the ground are less a heroic stand against tyranny and more a slow-motion train wreck. A shiny new HighGround survey shows Biggs down 17 points, AG candidate Warren Petersen down 15, and state school chief contender Alexander Kolodin down 12. Even more damning for Team Red: Republican candidates are only pulling 68-75% support from their own voters, suggesting the base is less 'fired up' and more 'exhausted by the endless reruns.' The rally at an airport hangar had all the hallmarks of a victory lap for a war that's already been lost — the crowd cheered, but the numbers are cold, hard, and blue.
Why This Matters
For the average voter in Arizona — or anywhere paying attention — this is a masterclass in the disconnect between political theater and electoral reality. Trump's performance is designed to rally the loyalists, but the polling data shows that the GOP's problem isn't the Democrats; it's the GOP's own disengaged, skeptical, and frankly bored base. That should terrify not just Republicans in Arizona, but anyone who cares about functional governance. If the party's most famous 'fighter' can't motivate his own faithful to turn out, the 2026 midterms could be a catastrophic alarm bell for the national party. Meanwhile, for Democrats, this is a warning against complacency — the polls look good, but a lot can go sideways in three weeks. For the rest of us, it's a reminder that 'winning' isn't just about the volume of a stadium's roar; it's measured in the quiet privacy of a ballot box. And right now, the silence is deafening.