Trump-backed candidates lose elections from South Carolina to Utah in "rough" night for ex-president
Donald Trump Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Despite previous declarations from Donald Trump that his support is the “strongest endorsement in U.S. political history,” Trump-backed Republican candidates are losing primary races across the country.
“Tuesday was a rough primary night for Donald Trump — and he wasn’t even on the ballot,” Politico reported, with Trump-backed candidates losing their races in South Carolina, Utah and Colorado.
In South Carolina, Trump supported right-wing pastor Mark Burns, who lost to Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sherri Bigs.
In Utah, Trump decided at the last minute to support Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the race to replace Trump critic Mitt Romney. Staggs lost the Senate primary race by 20 points to Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, who refuses to endorse the former president, Politico reported.
In Colorado, former talk show host Jeff Crank decisively beat Trump-backed House Chairman Dave Williams, who faced calls to resign earlier this month after he sent an email from the GOP state account with the subject line “God Hates Pride.”
The losses on Tuesday come after Trump–backed candidate Christine Serrano Glassner lost the Republican’s U.S. senate primary in New Jersey earlier this month. The former president took another blow when his candidate of choice, Rep. Julie McGuire, lost in Indiana’s lieutenant government race a few weeks ago, MSNBC reported.
In response to criticism in 2022 that an endorsement doesn’t mean as much as he claims it does, Trump said in a statement he is almost “unblemished in the victory count.”
As Mediaite reported, 12 of the 15 candidates Trump has congratulated for winning their primaries on Tuesday won “uncontested without any opposition.”