Trump invokes French unrest while campaigning for Kansas Senator Roger Marshall

Washington, United States. US President Donald Trump invoked violent unrest in France on Monday to argue against Democrats while campaigning for Republican Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas. The incumbent faces a tight race for a seat Republicans have held for decades.

French protests feature in campaign speech

Speaking at a rally supporting Marshall, Trump expressed affection for Kansas and said he had come to campaign for the senator. The appearance continued his campaign visits to conservative states where Republican candidates face pressure from voters frustrated by rising prices and the Iran war.

Trump added a warning about France’s widespread protests to his campaign speech, suggesting without evidence that similar scenes could unfold in the United States if Republicans failed to win.

Recent demonstrations in France over living costs and inadequately funded public services have escalated into rioting and looting, producing some of the country’s most severe unrest in years. Trump, meanwhile, has struggled to improve the affordability of American goods and services.

Rhetoric draws on earlier campaigns

Trump’s remarks included anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric of the kind he employed during his three campaigns for the presidency. He said he would prevent similar unrest from reaching the United States.

“When you see burning steeples and raging fires in France, just remember that is what the radical Dumocrats want to do to America.”

Trump has used the label Dumocrats to ridicule Democrats. Rights advocates have repeatedly condemned his rhetoric over the years for targeting and mocking immigrants and ethnic minorities. Civil rights organisations say those remarks make discriminatory attitudes towards these communities seem normal.

Marshall faces close contest

Kansas, a conservative state in the Midwest, backed Trump by a margin of 16 points in 2024. It has gone 94 years without electing a Democratic US senator.

Marshall, who is serving his first term, faces a close contest against Democrat Adam Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor. Hamilton is campaigning against Trump’s tariff policies and what he describes as the president’s “erratic leadership.”