Trump says polls 'don't account for one thing,' as he pledges
Conservative principles face implementation challenges as policy meets political complexity.
Trump told the crowd in Dayton that the polls don’t account for one thing: him. It’s a fair point, and one the political class tends to wave off as bluster. But watch the man work a room in Ohio, or anywhere else he shows up, and you’ll see the difference between a data point and a living, breathing movement.
New Republican Times Editorial Board
Video Trump tells Ohio voters 'we're going to win big' at Dayton rally President Donald Trump urged his audience in Ohio to "pretend that I'm running" ahead of November's midterm elections in the Buckeye State, during Saturday's speech in Vandalia, Ohio.
President Donald Trump vowed that Republicans will overcome their disadvantage in the polls now that he is on the campaign trail on Saturday night. Trump held a rally in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday and told a cheering crowd that the polls hadn't accounted for him campaigning personally. "On election night, Ohio is going to prove that America does not belong to those who hate it.
America belongs to those who love it," Trump said. MOBILE, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 02: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama on October 02, 2026 in Mobile, Alabama.
The rally is being held in Alabama's 1st Congressional District which was redrawn when the state redistricted earlier this year. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) ( ) "These fake polls, they don't account for one thing.
They don't account for the fact that Trump is out campaigning. They never thought this was good. They never thought this was going to happen," he added. A recent Fox News Poll found Democrats have a wider path to victory than Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Democrats are projected to win 215 seats compared to 201 for the GOP, meaning the left only needs three more victories out of the 19 possible toss-up races to clinch a majority. Republicans would need to win at least 17 of those races. "With you at my side, we have always prevailed and prevailed by a lot and got record setting votes and record setting victory," Trump said. "We've won every battle.
We've defeated every hope. We've overcome every threat. And now we are on the cusp of beating the communists, socialist, radicalized lunatics and villains once and for all. We're going to put them down once and for all." A new memo being sent to Republicans across the country, first obtained by Fox News Digital, revealed four key topics that the House GOP is focusing on in the final four weeks before Election Day: the border, fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars, the economy and public safety.
Republicans are also seeing political opportunity in the far-left insurgency that's gripped the Democratic Party during its primary cycle, warning that socialists are pushing the party further left than the majority of Americans.
Republicans will be defending their razor-thin House majority in the 2026 midterm elections (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News) The economy, including high grocery and gas prices , has become a central issue in the 2026 election cycle.
Democrats have seized on Americans' struggle with cost-of-living as a political cudgel against Republicans, particularly using Trump's tariffs on allies like Canada and his war in Iran as arguments against the GOP.
Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Trump told the crowd in Dayton that the polls don’t account for one thing: him. It’s a fair point, and one the political class tends to wave off as bluster. But watch the man work a room in Ohio, or anywhere else he shows up, and you’ll see the difference between a data point and a living, breathing movement. The polls measure temperature. They don’t measure the heat he generates on the ground.
Republicans have a real headwind this cycle. The House map is tough, and the fundraising numbers are what they are. But the same experts who said the red wave was dead in 2022 were eating their words by the end of that night. What the models can’t quantify is the energy Trump brings to a race that the party’s bench simply doesn’t have. He turns out the base that other candidates can’t reach, and in a midterm, turnout is the whole ballgame.
The polls have a blind spot. They capture who’s angry on paper, not who’s willing to stand in line for an hour to hear the President speak. Dayton was packed, loud, and ready. That doesn’t show up in a crosstab, and it won’t until the votes are counted.
So yes, the smart set will keep clicking their tongues and pointing to the aggregates. Let them. We’ve seen this movie before, and the ending usually surprises the people who trust the spreadsheet over the street. Trump knows his crowd, and his crowd shows up. The polls may not account for that, but November will.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.