U.S. President Donald Trump, during a rally in northern New York State on Friday, deviated from the topic of mid-term elections and launched a fierce attack on the Norwegian Nobel Committee for awarding the Peace Prize he had long coveted to the South African jurist Navanethem "Navi" Pillay ( Navanethem “ Navi ” Pillay ). Pillay has served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and was awarded the prize for her work in judicial proceedings and accountability regarding war crimes and genocide.

Trump went on at length to explain why this award is "an indelible stain on Norway," and stated that he "should have won the Nobel Peace Prize, but did not."

As usual, Trump claims to have ended eight wars, but some of the conflicts he claims to have resolved were actually just periods of heightened tension, and his role in alleviating these conflicts has always been controversial. Meanwhile, the war against Iran that he and Israel launched—Trump once predicted would last only a few weeks—is still unresolved, putting pressure on his party as they face voters with low morale ahead of the midterms.

According to a poll conducted last month by the Center for Public Affairs Research and released on October 1st by The Associated Press – NORC, 71% of American adults disapprove of the way Trump is handling the Iran issue, while 28% approve. This conflict has driven up gasoline prices, and the poll also shows that voters attribute high living costs to Trump.

Trump angrily described Pillay as "a liberal who works at the United Nations, about whom no one has ever heard," and added, "The Nobel Peace Prize has long been thoroughly tainted by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democratic and are actually enemies of civilization. We will not forget that, Norway."

Nobel controversies overshadow political tasks

This lengthy digression stands in sharp contrast to an event aimed at supporting Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate in the New York State governor's race. During the event, Trump criticized Kathy Hochul, the Democratic governor seeking a second full term in office, but he also spent considerable time attacking Letitia James, the Attorney General of New York State. James is a significant political opponent of Trump and has filed civil lawsuits against Trump and his businesses.

Due to the lawsuit filed by James, the court determined that Trump was responsible for fraud. The appellate court later overturned the hefty fine, but upheld the fraud conviction. On Friday, Trump referred to James as a "dog" on the stage at Oncenter in Syracuse, New York.

Trump has been actively involved in a series of political activities recently, attempting to bolster the loyalty of his base as the Republican Party strives to maintain a majority in Congress. The elections on November 3 will determine whether the Republicans can continue to control Congress.

The task for this event on Friday was to assist Republican candidate Blackman in states where Democrats have the upper hand. In keeping with Trump's usual style, Blackman, the administrator of Nassau County, hinted that Democrats might steal the election, exaggerated the threat of immigrant crime, and released videos generated by artificial intelligence that depicted New York State as a dangerous and unaffordable place.

Despite inviting Blakeman onto stage, Trump still spent a great deal of time refuting a viewpoint within the United States that voters do not trust his approach to managing the economy.

Trump attempts to persuade voters that the economy is performing well

With just 25 days left until the mid-term elections, Trump spent most of the first half of his rally trying to persuade Americans who are pessimistic about the economy.

"The poverty rate has just dropped to its lowest level, and that is the best figure," he said. "This is the lowest level in U.S. history."

"Employment data is the best. The stock market has already risen significantly," Trump said.

Although gasoline prices have dropped by a few cents per gallon over the past week, according to AAA data, the current price is still about 15 cents higher per gallon than it was a month ago. Trump briefly abandoned his optimistic economic rhetoric and directly called on oil retailers to "start reducing prices now."

The latest Associated Press poll – NORC – also found that only 26% of American adults approve of the way Trump is handling the economy, which is a new low, down from 32% in July. Notably, only 17% of people approve of his approach to dealing with living costs.

Throughout his travels so far, Trump has largely avoided swing states, focusing instead on states where Republicans have a strong advantage and addressing supportive crowds; at this moment, Republicans are concerned that his low support ratings could drag down the entire party. The most closely watched race for a House seat in New York State is still several hours' drive away from Syracuse; Republican Representative Mike Lawler is trying to fend off the challenge from Democratic candidate Kate Conley.

Blackman emphasizes that she maintains independence from Trump

During the campaign, Blackman claimed that he was appealing to Democrats and independent voters, presenting himself as a moderate candidate in contrast to Hochul. He dismissed the argument that having close ties with the president would harm his chances of winning in the blue-leaning state of New York.

In an interview, Blakeman denied that he always agreed with the president's stance on all issues. "I am the kind of person who makes decisions based on good advice from smart people and common sense on each issue," he said.

"I've proven my independence time and again. I make my own decisions and take my own actions," he said.

Hawker, on the other hand, emphasized Blackman's connections with Trump – which is in line with the Democratic Party's national strategy for the midterms – hoping that the president's poor approval ratings will help to bring down this Republican opponent at the polls.

In a sarcastic press release, Houlor's campaign team described Trump's visit as "an extremely boring puppet show," and stated that both Houlor and Trump were asking voters to pretend that the president was also voting on the ballot. "Why did Trump come to upstate New York?" asked the campaign team. "Because Bruce Blakeman somehow asked him to do so."