Trump Leverages Divisive Rhetoric in Midterm Election Push

As the midterm election cycle reaches its climax, Donald Trump has pivoted toward a stark warning regarding the potential collapse of American civilization. Rather than focusing on economic concerns like housing costs, inflation, or the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, the president is centering his closing argument on the preservation of White, Christian culture and heritage. Trump recently told rally attendees in Kansas that citizens must declare they will protect their values and religion to prevent the nation from being destroyed by those who harbor hatred toward the country. What they do. … Your son leaves as Jimmy and comes back home in three days as Janet, and they don’t even ask you,” he said, it’s unbelievable. The greatest current threat to Americans is not the prohibitive cost of groceries, gasoline, diesel and housing; his Iran war quagmire; or concerns that AI could wipe out jobs and even humanity, to hear the president. He’s also acting as an arbiter of others’ faith and American identify. He’s intensifying the scorched-earth imagery that made his name and seeking to replenish power by weaponizing painful national divides. It implies that everyone who shares that person’s faith or ethnic characteristics lacks the distinguishing humanity of an individual and is not authentically American. For instance, tapped into the theme of un-American outsiders, quipping Monday that a protester at one of his events must have crossed the border illegally to behave in such a manner, vice President JD Vance. It is not necessarily racist to worry that Democrats didn’t properly secure the southern border. Some Americans genuinely worry whether expanding Muslim or other faith communities will fully integrate or change the character of their cities and customs. And it’s perfectly appropriate for issues like a candidate’s views on the Middle East or groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to be litigated in campaign debates.

This strategy involves the use of increasingly inflammatory cultural rhetoric. In Kansas, Trump alleged that Democratic Senate nominee Adam Hamilton had urged people to “repent because you were born White,” a characterization that critics have rejected as a misrepresentation of the candidate’s actual message. This effort to engage voters through identity-based grievances remains a primary focus of his campaign appearances in red states, where he seeks to energize conservative turnout to protect Republican seats that appeared safe until recently. Self-reflection and personal faith, this was a misrepresentation of the candidate’s far more expansive remarks on race.

The president has simultaneously employed derogatory language against political opponents. He has repeatedly labeled Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed a “jihadist” and dismissively referred to him as “Mohammed,” justifying the use of the name by suggesting that if someone has a problem with names, they should just call the person “Mohammed.” Furthermore, during a recent defense of Sen. Roger Marshall, Trump utilized the antisemitic slur “Shylock,” a term he previously drew controversy for using in 2025. This time, he can’t say he was unaware of the term’s insinuations: He caused a storm by using it publicly in 2025. Roger Marshall against criticism over medical billing practices.

Beyond religious and ethnic stereotyping, Trump is stoking fears surrounding gender identity and foreign threats. He has frequently warned that a Democratic-controlled Congress would facilitate the widespread transition of children in schools, claiming without evidence that schools are performing unwanted gender surgeries. He described the situation in hyperbolic terms, suggesting that parents might send a son to school only for them to return having undergone a transition. These baseless narratives have been repeated in appearances across Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina. He’s stoked fears that the rioting rocking France will cross the Atlantic if the Democrats win, after a campaign in which he’s warned socialists and communists want to obliterate the republic, in recent days. And many politicians are guilty of exaggeration.

Trump also continues to demonize specific figures, including Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. He has publicly questioned her right to constitutional protections, suggesting that she is not entitled to them because of her origin in what he termed a “shithouse” country. He has also attempted to alienate voters from religious leaders who deviate from his political platform. Earlier this week, he mocked Adam Hamilton’s credentials as a leader in the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, asserting that the pastor’s views do not align with his religious station. But getting the details right is hardly the point.

In an effort to elevate his standing, the president has occasionally framed himself as a religious authority. He recently claimed that an unnamed Texas religious leader predicted he would lead Christianity into a transformative period, despite Trump acknowledging he is not deeply versed in the Bible. Such rhetoric goes beyond traditional political appeals, suggesting a strategic move to define himself through the identification of domestic and cultural enemies. It’s not credible that such a sophisticated political operator is mindlessly blurting out random thoughts during his onstage weave.

While some supporters find this approach resonant, Republican political figures remain divided on its utility. Former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford argued that focusing on inflammatory stories about transgender youth or racial tensions is unlikely to sway moderate swing voters who are primarily concerned with economic issues like inflation. As the November 3 election nears, White House strategists appear aware of the potential risks, opting to keep the president away from the most competitive swing states where such polarizing language could alienate crucial independent voters. In the phraseology of political consultants, yet Trump is going much further than simply throwing out “red meat” to supporters. In one of the most foreboding closing arguments of any of his political campaigns, Trump is flinging racially charged rhetoric; conjuring Islamophobic paranoia; and stirring up false visions of kids being mutilated in mass transgender surgeries without parental consent. At his most vulnerable political moment in nearly six years as president, Trump isn’t responding with compelling, innovative defenses of his record on affordability or foreign policy. Maybe he’ll save some red-state Republicans who never expected they’d face a fight for their careers in 2026, if he can animate low-intensity voters who have shown up only when he’s on the ballot. No wonder the GOP views November 3 with growing trepidation. He’s most politically effective when he has a foil. Some, like Trump, sometimes dole out vindictive comments framed as jokes to create a layer of political cover. Many liberals have meanwhile tended to assume that all Trump’s supporters share the apparent racial and religious prejudices of their movement’s leader. The repetition of searing themes and the frequent resort to racial or religious tropes is creating a pattern of fear.