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But within days, Blanchard’s effort to position himself as the Trump-endorsed candidate in the race was jeopardized as it became clear that the 45th president was leaning towards supporting Representative Mo Brooks (R-Ala. ) In the GOP primary for Shelby’s. seat. Four people familiar with Trump’s thinking have said Brooks is his preferred candidate and will most likely receive approval for the foreseeable future – if not on Monday when Brooks is officially due to launch his campaign, and then at a later stage of the race.
“President Trump could jump on Monday and do it, but he’s also interested in waiting to make a splash later,” said one of the people familiar with Trump’s thinking.
Even Brooks himself seemed confident in Trump’s support. During a phone call Wednesday afternoon – which was overheard by these two reporters as the congressman from Alabama walked into a Conservative center on Capitol Hill – Brooks told an unidentified person, “The President told me that when I announce, he would say good, strong and positive things about me. The Brooks team did not respond to a request for comment.
Indeed, few in Trump’s inner circle expected the former president to ever endorse Blanchard rather than Brooks, who was among the first Republican lawmakers to announce a challenge to the 2020 election results last December. and had the “inside track” for the 45th president, according to a Trump aide.
But what likely sealed Blanchard’s fate, according to four people familiar with the matter, was when they said her team broke a cardinal rule in Trump World: They exaggerated how much of an insider she really was. from Trump.
“The president doesn’t know Lynda very well and it reminded him and his team that his team members had exaggerated how close they were supposed to be,” said a person close to Trump. “One of her staff would tell any donor who listened to her that Trump was going to support her and that made him angry.”
“They were totally exaggerating the relationship between Lynda and him,” added a Trump adviser.
A person close to Blanchard rejected suggestions that the former ambassador or her team had already inflated her relationship with Trump.
“It’s rubbish. She’s someone spinning someone around to help Mo. She would never sell him too much, she’s not that kind of person,” the person said. Blanchard’s team did not respond to a request for comment.
More than two months after the Jan.6 uprising on Capitol Hill, Trump’s blessing remains the primary form of currency in Republican politics. Potential Republican candidates and incumbent GOP lawmakers are in a mad race to gain its approval.
Some have used proven methods to gain Trump’s approval, taking access-driven approaches or praising him from the public. Potential Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance, whose “Hillbilly Elegy” memoir became a Trump-era zeitgeist, met with former Trump advisers and consultants with close ties to the 45th president. Pennsylvania Representative Mike Kelly, who is eyeing a challenge against his state’s Democratic governor, told Reuters this week he “would be able to appeal to the president and ask for his help” after positioning himself as a supporter of Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 Election Result.
But there are still obstacles to a successful court. Blanchard’s case and others underscore the former president’s notorious sensitivity to feeling taken advantage of for the benefit of someone else, including politicians who exaggerate their closeness to him.
And if a candidate’s actions don’t match the pro-Trump brand they’re running for, it will likely be much more difficult to get the former president’s endorsement.
Two of sources close to Trump’s thought said he was urged to slow down his Senate approvals after throwing his weight behind Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, a frequent critic of Trump’s trade policy and one of the few. Republican senators who voted against his attempt to use emergency presidential powers in the spring of 2019 to build his long-promised new border wall. One of those sources said that when he went through the contradictions of Moran’s endorsement, Trump’s repulsion for even minor cases of disloyalty only intensified. As an example, they noted that Trump is currently withholding approval from Indiana Senator Todd Young after Young called Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “embarrassment” to the Republican Party last month. Young’s comments came shortly after Greene claimed to have received “full support” from Trump during a phone call with the former president.
Trump’s money, his approval and his commitments [are] very precious. This is political currency for many of these candidates and he plans to keep a tighter reins on this, ”said a former senior official in the Trump administration.
For those seeking Trump’s support, there is also the added challenge of joining him. Now living in his luxurious private resort in Mar-a-Lago, Trump is only accessible by invitation to the club or by those in possession of his new mobile number in Florida. It’s a significant change from his Oval Office days, when members of Congress hoping to have a word with the president had several ways to make the connection. These days, Trump is surrounded by only a small team of helpers – many of whom have traveled back and forth to Palm Beach from Washington and hold additional positions that demand their attention. A relationship with one of his political advisers certainly helps, as does a line to Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), who regularly golfed with Trump and had encouraged him to support Moran and Young.
A steady stream of Republicans have always managed to visit Trump in Mar-a-Lago, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Louisiana Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Florida Senator Rick Scott, who chairs the campaign arm of the Senate GOP. Utah Senator Mike Lee, who is due for re-election in 2022, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, also held separate fundraisers in Mar-a-Lago over the past month, which included Trump cameos.
And some candidates have simply tried to flatter their way to a meeting with Trump at his South Florida home.
“A lot of people I’ve spoken to in Washington talk about the toxicity of Trump, but every candidate I’ve spoken to for Congress, Senate, local legislatures, they’re all fighting for a job in themselves. selling as Donald Trump’s’ conservative. Former Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said.
Trump’s record of recommendations may offer a window into why so many Republicans are seeking a helping hand from the former president. Although he lost his re-election last fall, Trump was mostly successful in picking the winners of the primary contests. In 2018, follow-up by FiveThirtyEight found that “Trump-backed candidates ran 15v17 in the GOP primaries for the US Senate, US House, and governorates in which no incumbents ran. . In 2020, all but two of the candidates approved by Trump won their respective Republican primaries.
But this success rate is due to the fact that – at least so far – Trump has provided endorsements primarily to shoe contenders or former assistants. That includes Republican incumbents like South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who beat his Democratic opponent in 2016 by more than 20 percentage points, and Senator Mike Crapo from the deeply red state of Idaho. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is following in her father’s footsteps and running for Arkansas governor, has also been approved. The same goes for former White House advance director Max Miller, a GOP lead candidate for Ohio’s 16th Congressional District who challenges one of ten House Republicans who have voted for Trump’s second impeachment.
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