Opinion: Straight from Trump’s lips: Support for Roger Marshall of Kansas and digressions aplenty
President Donald Trump looks for the news media while speaking at an Oct. 19, 2026, rally at the Heartland Credit Union Arena in Park City, Kansas. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)
Kansas was honored with the presence of the president of the United States on Monday night.
Donald Trump traveled to Park City, just outside Wichita, to voice his support for Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall in his unexpectedly tight race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. I’ve written about that contest at length. You’ve heard my takes.
You might not have heard Trump’s opinions. As an epoch-defining leader, Trump carried unique importance that October evening as he urged Kansas voters to vote for Marshall as through they were voting for him.
Trump’s unique approach to political rhetoric has been a longstanding fascination of mine, from the time that I first saw him in person in Nashua, New Hampshire, more than a decade ago. In 2015, I wrote: “The actual content of his short stump speech was a series of digressions, touching on his proposal to build a White House ballroom, China’s currency valuation and reheated GOP talking points. In one brief passage, he managed to mash together Benghazi, the IRS investigation of conservative groups, the president’s golf game and executive orders.”
Trump’s speeches have only lengthened and deepened since then, offering the kind of profundity only achievable by those with uncommon wisdom or catastrophic head injuries.
Here are five curious passages from Trump’s Monday night free-for-all.
‘He couldn’t figure out the stairs’
“You know, I have the all-time in history Christian vote. I have the evangelical vote, the Christian vote. I have by — I know more. I know more than anybody.
“As somebody said about me — I shouldn’t say this. This is terrible. They said a certain pastor from a place in Dallas, Texas. He said — you know, I shouldn’t say this. Should I say this, Roger?
“He said, ‘You know, he might not read the Bible as much as us. He might not know every passage and he might have some other little weaknesses. But one thing about him — he’s the greatest leader, and he’s going to lead us to a period of time in Christianity, in Christianity, that nobody else can do. That nobody else can do.’
“And he turned out to be right. Turned out to be right. I’ll never forget it. I said, ‘I don’t know. Am I insulted by that, or is that a compliment?’
“But he was a — he’s a great guy. Dallas, Dallas, Texas.
“All of us here tonight represent the greatest nation in the world, and frankly, our nation was not so great two years ago. It was an embarrassment. We had a president that couldn’t find his way off a stage. He couldn’t. He couldn’t figure out the stairs. You got more stairs on these stages. You know, I think the federal government puts them up, Roger.’ ”
‘His views aren’t of a pastor’
“In fact, when she (Kamala Harris) ran, you know, we had a debate. Biden didn’t do great. It was not one of the greatest debate performances. He was slightly off that night, and they decided, ‘Let’s get rid of him.’ This is like a prize fighter goes in — Dana White, UFC — and you’re beating the hell out of the guy. And now they say, ‘Let’s remove him and put a new guy in.’ That’s no good.
“But fortunately, the new one was Kamala, and she was no better. But she’s leading. She’s leading. I don’t know if she knows that.
“Let’s call her up and tell her. I can’t believe it.
“But very importantly, Adam Hamilton. So he donated a lot of money to all these people. He didn’t give me anything. He didn’t give me, and he should have. That would have been a wise thing to do, but he didn’t because he’s not for us. He’s not. He doesn’t have our views. He doesn’t have our values. And he happens to be other than being a pastor. He’s a pastor, I guess. But he doesn’t act like a pastor because his views aren’t of a pastor.
“Adam Hamilton wants to take away your guns, and, and by the way, one of the most important issues. There has been nobody better on the Second Amendment than me.”
‘Request strongly money owed’
“I’d rather have you have all paper ballots, by the way. It’s a lot better. Save a lot of money. You save a lot of money.
“And I have to say this. Somebody said, ‘Oh, don’t say it. Nobody believes it.’ But I have to say it because I think it’s appropriate. Roger was given a real. I know the guy. He’s one of the — he’s a tough guy and all, but he’s also high quality, and he’s a fine person. And he was given a bum rap because he was mandated by law to request strongly money owed from patients.
“You’re not allowed not to do it. You have to, by law, go after those people.
“And they made it like, ‘Oh, he was some kind of a Shylock type guy.’ And if he didn’t make these requests, he would be breaking the law. He would have been breaking a very strong criminal law, and he would be subject to criminal arrest and liability.
“And he didn’t do it. It was the law firm that did it. I don’t know what they did. They’re probably tough, but they were mandated to be tough by the law, and they gave him a bum rap. So I don’t know if I should be saying it, but that’s the way it is, Roger. I have to tell it like it is.
“You got screwed with that stuff. And the other thing, he had somebody again, he had to collect. A judge ordering a patient’s arrest. A judge ordered a patient’s arrest for not showing up to court many, many times. A patient just refused on a routine court case to settle it up, and the judge was very tough.
“And that’s the way it is. It’s just, he didn’t make, he didn’t do it. The judge was very tough because the judge, and it wasn’t really even the judge’s fault. The judge was mandated to be this way, and it has to do with the federal government, and it has to do with the collection of money for the federal government. And that man did nothing wrong. So I just want to set the record straight.
“That should not happen to a good person, and fake ads like that shouldn’t be allowed. Oh, I’d love to sue the media. I would love to sue.
“Sullivan. We — Sullivan v. Sullivan. Oh, I’d like to have them change that. They would have — then they’d really be finished.”
‘If you don’t love them, just forget’
“They gave us the worst inflation in American history, the highest energy prices in American history. They gave us the worst inflation. It was really 48 years, but I think it was history. And sometimes they’ll call me out. ‘It wasn’t history. It was 48 years.’ Oh, OK. I actually think 48 years sounds worse.
“I don’t know why, but they gave us the worst inflation in American history, the worst trade deficit in American history, and they allowed 25 million people to pour across our borders from all over the world. And if they win the midterms, they will do it again. They’ll get rid of the border. They’ll get rid of all the tax cuts. We have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security from our seniors.
“No estate tax. So you leave your children your farm. You love your children. Your children love the farm. They want to take your farm under the previous administration, and they want to end this, by the way.
“If that happened, they go after your farm. They go after your children. They have a big tax. Your children go to the bank, the local friendly bank that turns out to be not so friendly, and they go after your children. And bad things happen. Often bad things happen. I got rid of the death tax, or the estate tax as it’s more commonly known.
“But all small farms, businesses — so you can leave your small farm or business to your children if you love your children. Now, if you don’t love them, just forget. I just wasted about two minutes. You don’t love your — is there anybody in this room who does not love their children? Because you know Kansas is, I think, known for a lot of love.”
‘I don’t even talk about myself’
“But less than two years ago, radical left Democrats handed us the dark age. It was the dark age. It was a dark, dirty period, weaponization like nobody’s ever seen. Hey, I was the ultimate. I mean, I don’t even talk about myself.
“What they did with me, but now I look. And I say, ‘Oh, gee, I’m in the Oval Office.’ I say sometimes, I’ll say, ‘Nobody appreciates what I’ve done.’
“I’ve created the greatest, you know. We have 22 trillion coming in. No, I do it. You know, we just we just did favored nations in medicine, like as an example, and all these things. And I did so much, and did so much. And you know, we’re in the golden age of America. We were the dark ages.
“But I say oftentimes, nobody appreciates what I did. I feel very sad.
“No, no, no. I took drug prices from the highest price in history to the lowest, and the press doesn’t write. No, that’s OK. Don’t worry. You’re killing my final line here. That’s OK. I never will turn down applause.
“But now I say to myself, sadly, as I sit in the most magnificent office in the world, the most powerful 3,000 feet, 3,000 square feet, most powerful by hundreds and hundreds of times, I’d say nobody appreciates how great a president I am.”
Listen to the man
As the leader of our nation and the free world, Trump wields unimaginable power, coupled with incredible influence.
Yet the national news media often prefers to process his rhetoric through random spokesmen and spokeswomen, quotes from anonymous aides, or handcrafted press releases.
This seems curious, given that Trump regularly speaks to the public at great length. He posts daily to his Truth Social platform, also at great length. The least those who support him or oppose him can do is pay attention to the actual words he uses and the actual stances he takes. What does he mean to convey to the people of Kansas and the greater nation?
This is the mind, and these are the words, of our duly elected president. Drink it in.
Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.