President Trump to hold rally Nov. 5 in Cape Girardeau

President Donald Trump will visit Cape Girardeau on Monday, Nov. 5, as he seeks to rally GOP supporters on the eve of crucial midterm elections.

The rally will be at 9 p.m. at the Show Me Center. Doors will open at 6 p.m. As with other rallies, tickets will be available from the Trump campaign at www.donaldjtrump.com/rallies.

The Trump campaign announced the rally on its website Monday night, hours after a local official with direct knowledge of the plans said the president was expected to hold a rally here.

The president�s visit will come little more than a week after he held a rally at the Southern Illinois Airport in Murphysboro, Illinois, a short drive from Cape Girardeau.

Thousands of people attended that rally. Trump talked about immigration and the economy during his speech, which lasted about an hour.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally Thursday in Columbia, Missouri.

The president has made several appearances in Missouri in support of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Hawley, who is running against incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Trump originally was scheduled to hold an evening rally Sept. 13 at the Show Me Center on behalf of Hawley, Missouri�s attorney general. But the president canceled the rally as emergency responders braced for Hurricane Florence, which was bearing down on the East Coast.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, Missouri, called the cancellation decision �the right call.� The 8th District congressman told the Southeast Missourian in September �the president represents the whole country, and that�s the right decision.�

But Smith said the �red carpet� is out for Trump and he would continue to request the president visit Southeast Missouri at a future date.

Joey Brown of Smith�s Washington, D.C., office said earlier Monday that Smith had suggested Nov. 5 for a possible rally in Cape Girardeau. But Brown said he had no confirmation of such a rally and it would be up to the Trump campaign to make the announcement.

Trump�s stop in Cape Girardeau will conclude six days of rallies, including rallies earlier Nov. 5 in Cleveland and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Smith said in September the region�s residents were looking forward to the Show Me Center rally.

�People were so excited,� he told the Southeast Missourian at the time.

Trump campaign officials indicated the public response for rally tickets was �one of the best� they had seen, Smith said of the planned September rally.

Smith said Southeast Missouri is �Trump country� and �that�s why I want him here.�

The 8th District ranked seventh among the nation�s 435 congressional districts in voter support for Trump in the 2016 election, Smith said. Trump beat Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton by 54 percentage points in the 8th District.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641