At rally in Tennessee on Saturday, Trump spoke to his MAGA base in the run-up to the midterm elections.
During his speech, Trump implied that the stop wasn’t necessary, as a Tennessee is a red state, but that he came to thank them for their support. He also took the time to repeat 2020 election lies.
“I’ve won your state by many, many, many points, some ridiculous number, all the time. So, three times I won the election, the big election three times. I got screwed the second time because they cheated. They cheated. We cannot let that happen again,” he said.
“But, I said, ‘You know sometimes it’s nice to go to a place where you don’t have to be,’ but you are there to say thank you to the great people that elected you three separate times,” he continued.
The crowd cheered and chanted,” Trump, Trump, Trump!,” and at some point, one of his MAGA devotees shouted that they loved him.
Trump’s response to that resembled other occasions where he has made biting or degrading remarks about his supporters.
“It’s like, I mean, it’s amazing. When you stand up here, it’s just like, the love. I could say the stupidest things and you’d clap. ‘Oh, I love you so—’ It’s true,” he continued. The crowd’s response was to laugh.
Trump has a history of these types of comments.
In 2016 as he was campaigning for his first term, he said, “I love the poorly educated!” This statement drew amusement.
In September 2025, at the Bedminster Gala, Trump said, “Smart people don’t like me, you know? And they don’t like what we talk about.”
In July 2025, when members of his own party advocated for the release of the Epstein files, the current president responded that they were, “some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans” for following the Democratic playbook. Most of those Republicans still bend to his will.
This month, at the Science and Technology Summit, Trump said, “We have an extremely high-IQ audience for a change. For a change. It’s very nice.” Some believe that the statement implied that the intelligence of the audience rivaled that of the attendees at Trump rallies.
Despite his loyal base, Trump still has record-low approval ratings for specific milestones in his president.
