President Donald Trump briefly halted his pre-midterm campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday to wipe his eye after struggling to keep it open, just days before voters were due to head to the polls.
About halfway through the event, Trump dipped a napkin into a cup of water and used it to clean his eye, pausing his remarks to supporters ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
‘Do you mind? I got a thing in my eye, watch this,’ Trump said.
‘Ah, that’s so much better,’ he added before throwing the remaining water toward the audience behind him.
‘I wish I had little eye drops,’ he continued.
Trump then mocked critics who had suggested that his health was behind the initial cancellation of rallies planned for the weekend.
‘If I did, they’d say I was seriously ill, that there’s something wrong with me,’ he said.
The 80-year-old president had abruptly called off rallies in Kansas and Iowa, prompting speculation about his health even as he insisted he felt ‘perfect.’
Both appearances were reinstated on Friday, ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.
The interruption came roughly an hour into Trump’s Daytona Beach rally, where he was campaigning in elections that will determine control of Congress.
President Donald Trump wiped his eye with a napkin during his Florida rally on Friday
US President Donald Trump points as he arrives to deliver remarks during a midterm campaign rally at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, US, October 30, 2026
The rally began nearly an hour later than scheduled, a delay that has become familiar at Trump’s events, particularly during his 2024 general election campaign.
On Thursday, Trump launched into a body-shaming attack against a reporter who asked whether he had canceled the Kansas rally because he was ‘sick of travel.’
The president was returning from a campaign event in South Carolina on Thursday afternoon and was heading to the White House for Halloween celebrations with First Lady Melania Trump when he was questioned about the cancellation.
Trump had been expected in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday to support Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who is facing a surprisingly close reelection contest. Instead, he abandoned the planned appearance and scheduled tele-rallies from Mar-a-Lago. He also canceled a rally in Dubuque, Iowa. Both events were later reinstated.
‘Oh, you’re sick to ask that question. You are sick,’ Trump told the Reuters reporter, asking which organization he represented before calling him a ‘dope.’
He continued: ‘Look at this guy. He’s way out of shape. Look at how badly…,’ later adding, ‘You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape. You look like hell.’
Trump then moved along the line of reporters while continuing to discuss the exchange.
‘He comes to me. “Sir, you’re not going to go to Kansas.” I’m not going to Kansas because he’s doing very well. I’m going to do a tele-rally. Tomorrow I’m doing Florida. He said, “What’s the reason?” After doing what? 28. He says, “What’s the reason for this, sir, that you’re not going to Kansas?”‘ Trump said, recounting the conversation that had taken place moments earlier.
‘You know what the reason is?’ Trump asked. ‘I don’t feel like I have to go to Kansas.’
A protester is removed as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a midterm campaign rally at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, US, October 30, 2026
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Earlier in Friday’s event, at least three protesters interrupted Trump. The president claimed they were being paid by billionaire Democratic donor George Soros.
One protester wore a shirt reading ‘Release the Files,’ apparently referring to documents connected to convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Republicans also used the rally to deliver sharp attacks against Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
Republican Congressman Randy Fine, one of Omar’s colleagues in the US House of Representatives, used his speech to mount a broad attack on Democrats and single out Omar, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
‘Many of the Democrats in Congress, they hate America,’ Fine told the crowd. ‘It isn’t that they have a different vision for this country. It is their goal to seek our destruction,’ he added.
Fine accused Omar, Tlaib and Mamdani of seeking to ‘overrun us with Third-World migrants who do not share our values or our faith, and who do not respect our heritage or our history.’
He also pledged to file a motion to ‘expel’ Omar from Congress ‘if the evidence shows’ that she ‘is not a citizen of the United States.’
Gubernatorial candidate US Representative Byron Donalds, Republican from Florida, holds MAGA hats before throwing them to supporters waiting for US President Donald Trump to speak at a midterm campaign rally at Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida, on October 30, 2026
Florida Republican Randy Fine, who is Jewish, said his Muslim colleague Ilhan Omar should be removed from Congress
Trump later turned his attention to Omar, saying she should not be permitted to serve in Congress.
The president also repeated a striking financial pledge: He said every adult American citizen would receive $5,000 if Republicans won control of both the House and Senate, while asking voters to promise they would not spend the money overseas.
In his trademark meandering style, Trump moved rapidly from one subject to another during the speech, at one point recalling his former NBC program, The Apprentice.
‘If I did not do ‘The Apprentice,’ would I still be president?’ Trump asked, prompting supporters to answer that he would.
He also discussed the ongoing conflict with Iran, arguing that Tehran had been at war with the United States for decades.
‘America did not start the war with Iran. Iran has been waging war with America since 1979, killing thousands and thousands of people,’ Trump said.
‘We’ve taken the nuclear capabilities out of the hands of Iran,’ he added while highlighting US military strikes.
Trump also celebrated the January arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, declaring: ‘We love the Venezuelan people. We won the war with Venezuela.’
Florida Republicans used the rally to make their final appeals to voters before Election Day.
Gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds attacked Democratic rival David Jolly, a former Republican, calling him a ‘failed Republican’ and a ‘fraud.’
‘David Jolly is a Jolly come lately,’ Donalds joked.
Republican Senator Ashley Moody also attacked Democratic challenger Angie Nixon, emphasizing what she called ‘stark differences’ between the candidates and labeling Nixon an ‘actual communist’ because of her affiliation with the Democratic Socialists of America.
‘In four short days, I’m going to be your next governor,’ Donalds told the cheering crowd.
