前福克斯新闻主播格雷琴·卡尔森——在该电视台工作了十多年后于2016年离职——对特朗普总统选择在周五晚间前往深红州阿拉巴马州举行集会给出了尖锐的解释，她认为总统是在刻意避开那些他可能遭遇不友好人群的州。特朗普在2016年、2020年和2024年均以两位数优势赢得阿拉巴马州，该州自1976年吉米·卡特以来从未支持过民主党总统候选人。

距离中期选举仅剩32天，特朗普一直偏好前往共和党票仓州造势，而非竞争激烈、甚至曾经稳固但如今共和党候选人亟需助选的摇摆选区。中期选举在总统四年任期的中途举行，今年众议院全部席位以及数十个州长职位和其他州级职位都将接受选民投票。

卡尔森的这一判断是在CNN节目上作出的。主持人艾琳·伯内特询问，总统是否意识到全国民调对他的态度已经急剧转变，以及她是否认为这些糟糕的数据可能被夸大了。

"I think the general sentiment is that the polls that are being done internally [at the White House] are worse than those that are external, so I would tend to believe them. But … it's unbelievable. I think, for Americans to try to comprehend that in just two short years, Trump took a silver platter that the American people gave him to run with this economy. And many people believe that he has run it into the ground, instead, in a short two-year time period. And why he's in Alabama tonight is because he's welcome in Alabama. There's a ton of red states where he might face boos right now. So that's why he's not going there to those places."

美国独立退伍军人组织创始人兼首席执行官、此前曾创立退伍军人倡导组织伊拉克与阿富汗美国退伍军人协会的保罗·里克霍夫表示，特朗普的阿拉巴马州之行对任何竞争激烈的选区中的共和党人都毫无助益，但他认为此行另有目的：自利式的宣传。

"There are no known competitive races in Alabama. Does this help turnout anywhere else? No. But it helps perpetuate an image. He's in Alabama because he wants to be in Alabama. And Donald Trump does whatever he wants,"里克霍夫说。"… He's there because he wants a home field advantage. It is a big crowd. [Republican Sen.] Tommy Tuberville loves him and is one of his most loyal advocates. And he's setting the stage for what can be used for a content grab."图伯维尔曾任奥本大学橄榄球队教练，自2021年起在参议院代表阿拉巴马州。

"They're setting the stage and then they're running it into the propaganda machine, which is literally state funded,"里克霍夫继续说道。"They now have the vehicles of power to run whatever they want through a state funded, government funded propaganda. And that's really what this is. It becomes a self-perpetuating propaganda machine. Or in the military, they would call it a 'self-licking ice cream cone.' It just keeps itself going for its own purposes."

与卡尔森观点一致，里克霍夫表示目前美国大部分民众并不喜欢这位总统，并补充道，"especially in swing states, [Republican candidates] don't want him, but they want his money."