Former President Donald Trump is on an endorsement spree, backing candidates right and left, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is the latest to receive backing in his re-election bid ahead of the November midterms. McCarthy is up for a multicandidate primary race scheduled for June 7th.
The endorsement comes just two days before a nonpartisan party primary for California’s 20th congressional district, where the top two candidates will face off in a November runoff.
Mr McCarthy has typically faced Democratic challengers in previous years, but his district was redrawn after the 2020 census. According to analysts such as the Cook Political Report, the seat is still considered safe for Republicans.
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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy gets Trump’s endorsement for re-election -Kevin McCarthy is “strong and fearless” says Trump
In the official announcement for the endorsement of the California Republican, former President Donald Trump calls McCarthy “strong and fearless”.
“In Congress, Kevin is a tireless advocate for the people of Bakersfield and the Central Valley. He is working incredibly hard to Stop Inflation, Deliver Water Solutions, and Hold Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi Accountable for their catastrophic failures and dereliction of duty,” the former president wrote in his PAC email, adding, “As Leader, Kevin is building a ‘Commitment to America’ platform to Grow our Economy, Fight Big Tech Censorship, Secure the Border, Strengthen our Military, Defend the Second Amendment, Improve our Health Care, Restore American Energy Independence, Support our Brave Veterans, and Uphold the Rule of Law and American Values.”
“Kevin McCarthy has my Complete and Total Endorsement.” -he added.
McCarthy’s endorsement sparks unrest among Trump-loyal conservatives
The former president’s decision to endorse Kevin McCarthy has ignited sparks in the conservative arena, because of the fact that McCarthy has not been completely loyal to Donald Trump.
Following the gruesome events on Jan 6 at Capitol Hill, the House Minority Leader said that Trump was responsible for inciting the riot, and was also reportedly planning to convince the former president to resign. During a conference call on January 10, McCarthy said he considered telling the then-president that if he were impeached, “it would be my recommendation you resign.”
Despite the audio, McCarthy has denied that he would have pushed Trump out of office. “The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign,” McCarthy was recorded telling a group of GOP lawmakers over the phone. “What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that and nobody should defend it.”
“Trump endorsing Frank Luntz bunk buddy Kevin McCarthy, instead of using his political capital to undermine bad GOP leadership, is a sign that Trump has not learned much after all this time about who is and is not America First,” tweeted right-wing writer Pedro L. Gonzalez.
Conservative radio host Leo Terrell went so far as to say that the representative “does not want President Trump to win re-election in 2024” in a tweet. “Kevin McCarthy does not want President Trump to win re-election in 2024.”
Trump takes it as a “compliment”
In an interview conducted later by the Wall Street Journal, the former president said that he took all of it as a “compliment”, and that his relations with McCarthy would remain unchanged.
“He made a call. I heard the call. I didn’t like the call,” said Mr. Trump. “But almost immediately as you know, because he came here and we took a picture right there—you know, the support was very strong.”
“I think it’s all a big compliment, frankly,” -he added.
The ex-president didn’t give a direct reply when asked if he would still support McCarthy for speaker, saying, “Well I don’t know of anybody else that’s running and I think that I’ve had actually a very good relationship with him,I like him. And other than that brief period of time, I suspect he likes me quite a bit.”
Trump endorsed Blake Masters blames Gun violence on Black people
President of Thiel Foundation and a candidate for the Arizona Senate seat who was endorsed by Donald Trump last week, admitted to the country facing problems with gun control, and then went on to blame it on the Black community.
On an episode of The Jeff Oravits Show, a local Arizona radio show dated April 11, 2022, Masters says “We do have a gun violence problem in this country, and it’s gang violence, It’s gangs, it’s people in Chicago, in St. Louis, shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people, frankly. And the Democrats don’t want to do anything about that.”
“What they mean by gun control is disarming you and me. I’m sure occasionally a ghost gun—a homemade firearm—is used in crime, but it’s pretty rare…usually, it’s just a black-market handgun,” the Arizona Republican said. “What they do when they ban things like ghost guns, when they ban things like pistol braces, which they’re trying to do, that’s all about disarming law-abiding people.”
Trump endorsed Masters last Thursday in retaliation for state Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s refusal to assist the former president in overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“Arizona is a State where the 2020 Election was Rigged and Stolen, and a very thorough audit proved it,” Trump said in a statement. “Blake knows that the ‘Crime of the Century’ took place, he will expose it and also, never let it happen again. It is my great honor to give Blake Masters my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
