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Trump's canceled rallies prompt debate over his value to Republican candidates

A CNN panel contrasts Trump's explanation for skipping Kansas with an independence-focused campaign ad from New Hampshire's John Sununu.

Channel: CNN ·

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Trump abruptly scraps rallies in Kansas & Iowa: Hear why

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:00Burnett reports that Trump canceled campaign trips to Kansas and Iowa, against a backdrop of tight polling.
0:58Trump says Marshall is doing well and a telephone rally will replace the Kansas visit.
2:14Cupp offers several possible explanations; Chris Sununu argues the final push should focus on undecided voters.
3:40Simmons suggests internal polling drove the decision; Frum questions the value of Trump's appearances for Republican candidates.
5:43Burnett reports that Ramaswamy is no longer airing a controversial attack ad.
7:11John Sununu's campaign ad stresses independence from Trump, prompting a response from his brother Chris.

John Sununu's campaign ad offers an unusually pointed backdrop to Donald Trump's canceled campaign stops: the New Hampshire Republican emphasizes that he has never even met the president.

The ad appears late in the United States' Cable News Network (CNN) segment, as Erin Burnett's panel examines whether Trump's presence helps Republican candidates in the final stretch before the midterm elections. It gives the discussion something concrete beyond speculation about why two rallies were dropped: a candidate explicitly putting distance between himself and Trump.

The network reports that Trump has canceled a Saturday appearance in Kansas and a Sunday rally in Iowa. Officials told the network that he instead plans as many as 20 telephone rallies before Election Day. Some Republican officials privately welcomed the cancellations, according to its reporting.

Trump offers a different explanation. In tarmac footage, he says of Kansas Senator Roger Marshall: "I'm not going to Kansas because he's doing very well. We're going to do a tele-rally." Marshall similarly suggests that the president probably has better places to spend his time. The footage also shows Trump responding to a reporter's question with personal insults.

The panel's explanations remain competing interpretations, not established reasons for the cancellations. Commentator S.E. Cupp raises crowd optics, fatigue and candidates' preferences as possibilities. Former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu argues that Trump had already saturated Kansas and that the final campaign push should target undecided voters.

Jamal Simmons, a former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris, suggests internal polling may explain the change, contrasting Trump's reduced travel with Barack Obama's campaigning. The Atlantic's David Frum questions whether campaigning alongside Trump was useful to these candidates in the first place.

Burnett also reports that Vivek Ramaswamy is no longer airing a controversial attack ad. The discussion then returns to John Sununu's declaration of independence, with his brother Chris on the panel to defend him. Despite the video's promise to explain the cancellations, the segment supplies Trump's stated rationale and several political theories, rather than a confirmed behind-the-scenes answer.