{"id":79921,"date":"2026-10-13T07:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T12:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/13\/trump-vanishes-from-gop-senators-campaign-website-as-poll-numbers-plunge-weeks-before-election\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T07:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T12:55:15","slug":"trump-vanishes-from-gop-senators-campaign-website-as-poll-numbers-plunge-weeks-before-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/13\/trump-vanishes-from-gop-senators-campaign-website-as-poll-numbers-plunge-weeks-before-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump vanishes from GOP senator’s campaign website as poll numbers plunge weeks before election"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Senate Republican running for re-election in ruby-red South Dakota has joined a growing number of candidates putting distance between themselves and President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more subtle than Republicans opposing the Iran war or dodging Trump campaign visits as Election Day nears and his popularity struggles.<\/p>\n

Just last month, Trump\u2019s name and endorsement were featured prominently on Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds\u2019 campaign website, but some mentions of the president have since been scrubbed, according to an older version of the website reviewed by Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

SLEEPER SENATE RACE EMERGES AS UNEXPECTED HEADACHE FOR REPUBLICANS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rounds\u2019 campaign noted to Fox News Digital that not every mention of Trump has been removed.<\/p>\n

“The president\u2019s endorsement is still front and center on the website in Mike\u2019s announcement video,” Rounds\u2019 campaign advisor, Rob Skjonsberg, told Fox News Digital. “But, generally speaking, it\u2019s not abnormal to hone in on general election messaging.”<\/p>\n

Trump endorsed Rounds<\/a> last year and lauded the lawmaker as an “incredibly strong advocate for the wonderful people of South Dakota, a State I love, and WON BIG, in 2016, 2020, and 2024!”<\/p>\n

“Mike Rounds has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election \u2014 HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN,” Trump said on Truth Social at the time.<\/p>\n

Still, Trump\u2019s approval rating among voters has cratered \u2014 a Fox News poll last month<\/a> found that overall, voters had a 39% approval rating of the president\u2019s performance. Key issues like cost of living, cost of groceries and fuel, and the ongoing war in Iran were major sticking points for participants.<\/p>\n

FOX NEWS POLL: MOST RATE THE ECONOMY NEGATIVELY, INCLUDING HALF OF REPUBLICANS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rounds\u2019 campaign website featured two mentions of Trump on its homepage, including “Endorsed by President Trump” and a photo of Rounds touting that “Mike is endorsed by President Trump and is working for South Dakota every single day.”<\/p>\n

Those two mentions have since been removed, along with Trump\u2019s name being removed in two places from the lawmaker’s “Issues” page on his website \u2014 the president was previously included in Rounds\u2019 “Put America First” and “Education” sections.<\/p>\n

The lawmaker is vying for a third term in deep-red South Dakota, where he previously served as the state\u2019s governor and in the state Senate.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s running against independent Brian Bengs<\/a>, who previously ran as a Democrat against Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., in 2022. Thune easily defeated Bengs in the general election, securing over 70% of the vote.<\/p>\n

SCHUMER DIGS IN AS PROGRESSIVE CANDIDATES WITHHOLD SUPPORT FOR TOP SENATE DEM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“I’m not running against the President,” Bengs said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “But to me it says a lot that this didn’t happen because of the Iran War that’s raising our costs or the tariffs that are hurting us \u2014 it only happened when Mike’s poll numbers went down and his big money allies are buying more ads to bail him out. I hope Mike finds the courage to debate me, so we can talk about it.”<\/p>\n

And South Dakota, unlike other red states like Kansas, hasn\u2019t budged from being considered “Solidly Republican,” according to the Cook Political Report.<\/p>\n

Other Republican candidates in tighter races, like Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa and former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan, have publicly come out against some of Trump\u2019s policies, including the war and embrace of data centers.<\/p>\n

“Bengs, quite likely the most unlikable carpet bagger candidate to ever run in South Dakota, is doing what socialists do \u2014 trying to distract from his own liberal positions,” Rounds’ campaign advisor said. “He can\u2019t defend his positions \u2014 so he attacks.”<\/p>\n

“In this case, like every case prior, it\u2019s coming from a Biden communications firm attempting to peddle garbage.\u00a0We\u2019re proud of the president\u2019s endorsement. It\u2019s still front and center,” he continued. “And, Bengs still wants to increase your taxes, take away your guns and expand Obamacare.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Senate Republican running for re-election in ruby-red South Dakota has joined a growing number of candidates putting distance between themselves and President Donald Trump. But it\u2019s more subtle than Republicans opposing the Iran war or dodging Trump campaign visits as Election Day nears and his popularity struggles. Just last month, Trump\u2019s name and endorsement … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}