Former Trump Official Says President Is ‘Best’ At Turning Out Voters

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows says President Donald Trump’s ability to mobilize voters may be a decisive advantage for Republicans as they work to defend their congressional majorities ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.

Speaking with Newsmax on Friday, Meadows said Trump can reach supporters who back the president but may be less inclined to vote when he is not personally on the ballot. Meadows served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first term.

“Turning out the vote is what Donald Trump does best,” Meadows said on “The Chris Salcedo Show,” describing the president as an unusually effective force for bringing Republican voters to the polls.

Meadows pointed to Trump’s rally in Georgia as an example of the enthusiasm he expects the president to generate.

“In the area that Donald Trump’s going to, there’s two things they love: Georgia Bulldogs football and Donald Trump. He’s going to be able to turn out voters,” he said of Trump’s Georgia rally.

“And hopefully, with early voting already starting there in Georgia, it’ll come on pretty strong. Making sure that every voter turns out is what Donald Trump does best,” Meadows added.

Trump has urged supporters to treat the midterms as if his name were on the ballot, though Meadows acknowledged that can be difficult in an election without a presidential contest.

“He says he wants everybody to look and pretend like he’s on the ballot. That’s really hard to do in the midterms,” he continued. “Generally, voting turnout is … down significantly.”

Meadows also rejected polling that has forecast trouble for Republicans, arguing that surveys have repeatedly failed to capture voter sentiment accurately.

“It has not been very accurate since 2016. All these pundits that are talking about what’s happening, all they’re doing is reading the polls and trying to get in front of the train that’s already left the station,” he said.

“There’s one poll that does matter. It’s the poll that’s going to take place with voters on Nov. 3,” Meadows said.

He warned that polling can shape voter behavior by convincing some people their participation will not matter.

“Part of the problem that you have with all these polls that are meant to either depress turnout or increase turnout, it does have an effect on people. They say, Well, why should I vote? Why does it matter? It’s already over with,” he added.

“The president is trying to remind people that, no, it’s not over with.”

Meadows said Republicans cannot rely on policy arguments or the party’s usual voters alone. Midterm elections often bring different turnout patterns than presidential races, making it harder to reproduce the coalition that powered Trump’s 2024 victory.

Trump has responded with an aggressive campaign schedule, visiting states where Republicans are trying to defend seats and energize voters. His message has repeatedly focused on treating the election as a referendum on his presidency, even though he is not a candidate.

Meadows argued that Trump’s campaigning can help down-ballot Republicans by drawing attention to the administration’s record and underscoring what is at stake for the president’s agenda. The challenge for the party, he said, is to carry enough of Trump’s presidential-year support into an election without Trump on the ballot.

The former chief of staff has made that case for months, urging Republicans to connect their midterm campaigns to Trump’s priorities rather than distance themselves from the president.

In a January opinion piece, Meadows argued that voters who supported Trump in 2024 would remain with Republicans if the administration continued its America First economic and trade policies.

“The forgotten men and women of America who stood with President Trump in 2024 will stand strong with him again in the 2026 midterms,” Meadows wrote at the time.