President Donald Trump will campaign in Alaska to support embattled incumbent Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK) ahead of November’s midterm elections, according to the Washington Examiner. Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that he expects to travel to Alaska one month before the Nov. 3 election as Sullivan remains in a statistical tie with Democratic nominee Mary Peltola.

Confusing Race with Multiple Candidates

Sullivan and Peltola are also competing against another Republican, a teacher named Dan J. Sullivan, due to Alaska’s complex electoral system. The race now includes another Republican, Gerald Heikes, after Democrat David Leslie withdrew from the race. Trump criticized the state’s ranked choice voting system as ‘a crooked form of voting,’ describing it as ‘totally dishonest.’

Trump alleged that Democrats were playing election games with Dan J. Sullivan, the teacher, acting as a spoiler, though Peltola and other Democrats have denied any involvement. ‘He hasn’t voted for years,’ Trump said of the teacher. ‘A pretty nonpolitical person, I guess, but never had any thought of running, all of a sudden, he’s running for the Senate in Alaska. His name is Dan Sullivan. They have the same name, and that guy got 2.5% in the recent primary.’

Trump’s Bizarre Campaign Comments

In a bizarre campaign speech, Trump mocked an obese friend, saying, ‘Are you taking this stuff? It’s not working. You look like s—,’ according to Nine.com.au. He also claimed people needed identification to go to a grocery store and told the gathered crowd how to spell the word ‘dumb.’

Trump referenced the Alaska race, stating, ‘His name was Dan Sullivan, and he’s running in the race against Dan Sullivan. It should be illegal.’ As Republicans face a challenging election, party members are increasingly distancing themselves from Trump. In June, congressional candidate Ralph Alvarado’s website prominently featured Trump. Alvarado touted his loyalty to the president and placed a photo of the two of them together on the site.

Changing Ties and Public Opinion

Alvarado’s website has since removed most references to Trump. Alvarado isn’t running in a swing seat but in a district in Kentucky that Trump won two years ago by a 57-42 percent margin. Pundits took the change as a clear sign that even among conservative Republicans, Trump is becoming toxic. Two months from a midterm election that could wipe out the Republican Party’s majority in Congress, there’s a clear gap between what voters are concerned about and what Trump is speaking about.

The president’s recent focus has included renaming long-established bodies of water. After renaming Lake Ontario ‘Lake America,’ he now suggests that the Strait of Hormuz be called ‘Trump Strait.’ A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds just 14 percent of Americans support renaming Lake Ontario, with 63 percent disapproving.