Kansas Democrat ‘glad’ Trump is campaigning for Marshall

Kansas Senate candidate Adam Hamilton (D) he was “glad” President Trump campaigned with his opponent, incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall, just two weeks out from their midterm election face-off .

Appearing on CNN’s “The Lead” Monday — the same day Trump stumped for Marshall in Park City, Kansas, host Jake Tapper asked Hamilton about the president’s campaigning efforts in the state.

“Well, I took it as a big compliment. I took it as a statement that the Republican Party felt they needed to send the most powerful man in the country to try to save Roger Marshall, and I think it’s only going to hurt him,” Hamilton said. “So I’m glad he’s here.”

Hamilton added that, if he were to be elected, he was “going to be a Democrat, but an independent-minded Democrat who wants to work across the aisle.”

The incumbent and his Democratic challenger are locked in a surprisingly competitive election as the president — who has positioned himself as the face off the GOP ahead of November’s midterms — faces declining approval ratings.

The public’s approval of Trump has dipped to a political career low amid his trade conflict with Canada and his ongoing war in Iran. A Monday Reuters/Ipsos poll showed the president with a 31 percent approval rating, down 1 point from its polling two weeks ago and the lowest point in both of his terms.

Sixty-six percent of respondents also reported they did not approve of his job performance.

Cook Political Report , an election handicapper, shifted the Kansas Senate race to a “toss up” in October, while Decision Desk HQ, The Hill’s nonpartisan election forecasting partner, gives Marshall a 64 percent chance of holding onto his seat.

Recently, the senator has publicly broken off from Trump on some issues — such as the president’s previous threats to ban a Canadian plane maker, Bombardier, which is a major employer in Kansas.

At his Kansas rally, the president hinted he would walk back these threats , saying he was going to help “a certain air company get themselves straightened away.”

“We’re not hurting them if they’re in Kansas. So we’ll take care of ​those people and the jobs,” he continued.