SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, USA. — President Donald Trump veered far from midterm election politics during a rally in upstate New York on Friday, aiming a bitter diatribe at the Norwegian Nobel Committee for giving the Peace Prize he has long sought to South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, a former U.N. human rights chief, for her work on justice and accountability for war crimes and genocide.
Trump unspooled a lengthy argument explaining why the award was “an indelible stain on the country of Norway,” saying he “should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn’t.”
Trump claimed, as he often does, to have ended eight wars, though some of the conflicts the president claims to have resolved were merely tensions, and his role in easing them has been disputed. Meanwhile, the war with Iran that he and Israel started — which Trump predicted would last mere weeks — remains unsettled and is a weight on his party as it faces a dour electorate ahead of midterm elections.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted last month and published October 1 (US time) found 71 per cent of American adults disapproved of Trump’s handling of Iran, with 28 per cent approving. The conflict has pushed gas prices higher, and polls show voters blame Trump for the high cost of living.
Trump bitterly described Pillay as “a liberal person who works at the United Nations who nobody has ever heard of,” adding: “The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilisation. And we will not forget, Norway,”
Nobel diatribe eclipses political mission
It was a lengthy deviation from an event aimed at promoting Bruce Blakeman, the Republican nominee in the race for New York governor. While Trump criticised Democratic incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is running for her second full term, he spent as much time excoriating New York Attorney General Letitia James, a prominent Trump adversary who brought civil charges against Trump and his business.
As a result of James’ charges, a court found Trump liable for fraud. An appeals court subsequently threw out the massive financial penalty but upheld the fraud finding. On Friday, from the stage at the Oncenter in Syracuse, New York, Trump called James “a dog.”
Trump has been on a series of political stops, trying to stoke loyalty among his base as Republicans work to fight off possible setbacks in their effort to hold congressional majorities on Nov. 3.
Friday’s mission was to lift up Republican Blakeman in the Democratic-leaning state. In Trump fashion, Blakeman, Nassau County’s executive, has suggested Democrats might steal the election, played up fears about immigrant criminals and posted AI-generated videos depicting the state as dangerous and unaffordable.
And while he invited Blakeman onstage, Trump spent large swaths of time pushing back against a national narrative that voters in the United States do not have faith in his handling of the economy.
Trump tried convincing voters that the economy is humming
Trump spent much of the first half of the rally — just 25 days before midterm elections that will determine whether Republicans can keep control of Congress — trying to talk past Americans’ gloomy feelings about the economy.
“The poverty rate has just reached its lowest level, the best number,” he said. “Lowest level in American history.”
“The job numbers are the best. The stock market has soared,” Trump said.
And while gas has fallen a few cents per gallon in the last week, it remains about 15 cents higher per gallon than a month ago, according to AAA. Trump briefly veered from his economic cheerleading to call on oil retailers directly to “start dropping their prices now.”
The latest AP-NORC poll found only 26 per cent of American adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy — a new low — down from 32 per cent in July. Notably, only 17 per cent approved of his handling of the cost of living.
Trump has largely steered clear of political battlegrounds in his travels so far, focusing on red states and friendly crowds at a moment when Republicans worry that his unpopularity could drag down the party. The most closely watched U.S. House race in New York State is several hours away from Syracuse, where Republican Rep. Mike Lawler is trying to fend off a challenge from Democratic candidate Cait Conley.
