Trump Rallies in Greenville, N.C., 13 Days Before Midterms as Senate GOP Spending Group Pulls Back From the State

President Donald Trump landed at Pitt-Greenville Airport just before 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, for a Republican midterm rally in North Carolina. Air Force One did a flyover above the crowd before touching down.

The stakes are plain. North Carolina's Senate seat is open, early voting began last week, and Election Day is Nov. 3.

The Senate race

Michael Whatley, the GOP nominee, is running against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper. Whatley spoke to the crowd before Trump arrived.

Trump took credit for the candidacy from the stage. "I'm the one that got him into this," he said, according to the Associated Press.

The seat is open because Republican Sen. Thom Tillis decided not to seek reelection after clashing with Trump over the president's tax and spending cuts legislation. No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in North Carolina since Kay Hagan in 2008.

The rally also came after the Senate Republicans' top campaign spending group pulled back in the state, the AP reported. That is a notable signal in a race both parties have treated as central to control of the chamber.

The immigration message

Ahead of the event, the White House previewed an immigration-and-crime pitch. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Breitbart News that "President Trump stopped the invasion of our country and delivered Americans the most secure border in American history."

Bis said the administration has recorded 17 consecutive months of zero migrant releases at the southern border. She also said more than 3 million people have left the country. That figure is an administration estimate of self-deportations, and no independent count was provided. Bis further credited Trump's policies with "the largest decrease in violent crimes in American history," another claim that comes from the White House.

The Department of Homeland Security supplied the local examples. DHS highlighted five ICE arrests in North Carolina between Sept. 30 and Oct. 13:

• Nelson Alexander Chay, a Guatemalan national and registered sex offender, arrested Oct. 2 in Siler City. DHS says his convictions include 16 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and a DWI.
• Gustavo Cardenas Arreola of Mexico, arrested Oct. 5 in Graham, with 10 convictions for second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. DHS says he received a final removal order on Oct. 19.
• Isidro Flores Rodriguez of Mexico, arrested Oct. 13 in Oxford, convicted of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury.
• Thong Vilaiphone of Laos, arrested Oct. 1 in China Grove, convicted of possessing weapons of mass destruction, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and felony probation violation. He has had a final removal order since 1997.
• Francis Martinez Alvarez of Honduras, arrested Sept. 30 in New Hanover County, convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and illegal re-entry. DHS says he was previously deported in June 2007.

One detail complicates the blanket "illegal alien" framing. DHS's own account says Chay was lawfully admitted through California in May 2002 and now faces proceedings to terminate that status.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, "Even one American harmed by an illegal alien is too many." He added that "deportations save lives." Bis, for her part, accused Democrats of wanting "extreme open border policies" and to "abolish ICE." The sources include no Democratic response to those characterizations.

The $5,000 checks

The AP reported that Trump is hoping $5,000 checks can boost Republican turnout. It also reported that even some of his devoted fans doubt the payments would arrive. The AP described the offer as a test of how much voters still trust him as they decide control of Congress.

Neither the White House nor the AP account lays out how the payments would be authorized or funded.

Republican messaging worries

The White House's own pre-rally release, dated Oct. 20, frames North Carolina as a choice between building on Republican gains and handing power to "Radical Left Democrats." It points to lower crime, tax cuts for workers and seniors, and a manufacturing surge.

Not every Republican is convinced the message is landing. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday, Oct. 19, on WABC radio: "I say this sadly as a lifelong Republican: My party is so dedicated to being inarticulate." He added that there are "lots of things we're doing that are good."

What comes next

The Whatley-Cooper race will be decided Nov. 3, with early voting already running across North Carolina. Whether the Senate GOP spending group returns to the state before then has not been announced.

Whatley and Cooper's closing weeks will show whether a presidential rally can offset a pullback by the party's own money.