By WILL WEISSERT, JOSH BOAK and BILL BARROW<\/p>\n
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (AP) \u2014 Georgia Democrats rallied<\/a> with former President Barack Obama Wednesday night, at the same time President Donald Trump<\/a> was in Ohio attempting to energize his base, as both parties began crystallizing their closing messages ahead of next week\u2019s midterm elections<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump has been on a weekslong sprint around the country, doing 20-plus rallies this month alone while packing upcoming days with more travel. But as Americans confront record fuel prices<\/a>, rising costs<\/a> and an unpopular war in Iran<\/a>, the president has been keeping his focus on states that he won handily two years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can get out to vote,\u201d Trump told a raucous crowd in Chillicothe, south of Columbus, Ohio\u2019s capital, \u201cwe\u2019re going to have a tremendous victory.\u201d<\/p>\n The last Democratic president to serve two terms, Obama is increasingly campaigning for his party and gleefully acting as a foil to Trump \u2014 including criticizing the Republican<\/a> for spending too much time leading White House renovations and for becoming wealthier while in office.<\/p>\n He said Trump is \u201cspending time supergluing gold medallions to the mantel in the Oval Office.\u201d<\/p>\n Obama appeared in suburban Atlanta with that city\u2019s former mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who could be the first Black woman elected governor in the United States, as well as Sen. Jon Ossoff, running for reelection and considered a potential future presidential candidate. <\/p>\n \u201cEverywhere you go, it feels like change is in the air,\u201d the former president said. <\/p>\n Trump says Alaska Democrat should be prosecuted <\/p>\n Even as he stages so many rallies, Trump also already turned to the courts to shape the midterms, directing his Department of Justice to file a lawsuit<\/a> last week preemptively contesting the outcome of Alaska\u2019s Senate race should Democratic challenger Mary Peltola win it. <\/p>\n That\u2019s due to the presence of a second candidate with the same name as Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan. <\/p>\n Speaking to reporters as he boarded Air Force One to fly to Ohio, Trump called on Peltola to drop out<\/a> of the race and warned she could face prosecution.<\/p>\n His comments followed a New York Times report<\/a> that Peltola\u2019s campaign was involved in an effort to recruit the second Dan Sullivan, which Trump called \u201cvoter fraud at the highest level,\u201d adding: \u201cIt turned out it was a scheme by the Democrats. That\u2019s what they do best: they cheat.\u201d Peltola\u2019s campaign said in a statement that it \u201chas no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n Accusations of antisemitism hang over Michigan Senate contest <\/p>\n Another closely watched Senate race pits Democrat Abdul El-Sayed against Republican Mike Rogers. Trump has intensified his anti-Muslim<\/a> rhetoric against El-Sayed, who on Wednesday told a crowd at an event in Wyandotte, outside Detroit: \u201cThey want to point to me and my name. They\u2019re doing this because they\u2019re trying to distract us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMichiganders are big-hearted. We\u2019re open-minded. We don\u2019t care as much how you pray; rather, we care what you pray for,\u201d El-Sayed said.<\/p>\n Republicans have argued El-Sayed is antisemitic<\/a>, which he denies. <\/p>\n Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who also is frequently mentioned as a 2028 presidential candidate, campaigned with Rogers in Birmingham, Michigan, at an event hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Cruz said that antisemitism is \u201ca poison that is ripping the country apart\u201d and that the Democratic Party was being taken over by \u201cself-proclaimed communists and Islamists.\u201d<\/p>\n The event featured several voters who described themselves as lifelong Democrats voting Republican for the first time because of El-Sayed\u2019s comments last year after a man attacked a synagogue in a Detroit suburb. El-Sayed tied the attack to Israel\u2019s actions<\/a> in the Middle East, saying at the time that \u201churt people hurt people.\u201d He later apologized<\/a> for the statement.<\/p>\n The issue was a focal point in the Democratic primary between El-Sayed and Rep. Haley Stevens, whom he narrowly defeated. Stevens has endorsed her former rival, but her fiance Jason Turkish told The Detroit News<\/a> on Wednesday that he plans to back Rogers because he believes El-Sayed is an antisemite. <\/p>\n Later, Stevens appeared on CNN and said of Turkish\u2019s comments, \u201cLike a households across America, we\u2019re a household divided.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI still very much want our Democratic nominee \u2014 his name is Abdul \u2014 to win this race,\u201d Stevens said. <\/p>\n But she also warned that El-Sayed is at risk of losing many of the Black and Jewish voters who backed her in the primary. She urged him to disavow an ad by Rebellion PAC, an independent left-wing group, that linked U.S. support for Israel with high grocery prices. <\/p>\n El-Sayed said, \u201cI\u2019m committed to the safety of the Jewish community like I\u2019m committed to safety of all communities,\u201d and he distanced himself from the ad without addressing its substance, saying it \u201chas nothing to do with our campaign\u201d and it\u2019s \u201cnot what I want to be talking about right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe can do the right thing,\u201d Stevens told CNN. \u201cHe can disavow these ads and he can reassure these undecided voters who are still left.\u201d<\/p>\n The president sticks mostly to red states in pre-midterm blitz <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s stops in the closing stretch of the campaign reflect Republicans\u2019 defensive posture even as the party\u2019s finances \u2014 and the president\u2019s signature super PAC, MAGA Inc. \u2014 have helped sustain candidates. <\/p>\n Trump visited Mississippi<\/a> on Monday and made another stop in a series of trips to Texas<\/a> on Tuesday. He plans to be in South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa in the coming days.<\/p>\n Going to so many deeply red states hasn\u2019t always gone smoothly.<\/p>\n Early in Wednesday\u2019s speech, Trump was interrupted by a protester shouting about the late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> and made some rare remarks on his onetime friend, saying he\u2019d expelled Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida decades ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a great thing I did, I must tell you,\u201d Trump said, adding, \u201cI threw Jeffrey Epstein the hell out of Mar-a-Lago.\u201d The president then pivoted immediately into praising Ohio Sen. Jon Husted\u2019s physique.<\/p>\n