Ahead Of Ohio Rally, Trump “Plunges Into GOP Primaries” – Escalating Infighting, Elevating Flawed Candidates, Increasing Spending, & Pushing Election Lies

Ahead of his Saturday rally in Ohio, news coverage is highlighting how as “Trump plunges into GOP primaries” in Senate races he is continuing to create chaos for Republicans – escalating infighting, elevating flawed candidates, making GOP primaries even more expensive, and forcing candidates to embrace his toxic election lies.

See for yourself:

Trump’s endorsement is escalating GOP infighting.

• Washington Post: ‘I’m a gambler’: Trump plunges into GOP primaries with risky picks. “Trump’s statements have not cleared the field like they once did.”

• PA – Fox News: Following Trump endorsement, Oz and McCormick trade jabs in Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary battle. “The former president’s endorsement this past weekend of Oz has rocked the race.”

• NC – The Hill: GOP scrambles to unify in divisive North Carolina Senate primary. “Budd is still far from a lock for the GOP Senate nod and still faces at least a… possibility of a primary runoff.”

• OH – Cleveland.com: With mudslinging in all directions, Ohio’s Republican Senate candidates head for the big finish

Trump is elevating flawed candidates.

• New York Times: Mar-a-Lago Machine: Trump as a Modern-Day Party Boss. “Inspiring fear, hoarding cash, doling out favors and seeking to crush rivals, Mr. Trump is behaving not merely as a power broker but as something closer to the head of a 19th-century political machine.”

• Wall Street Journal (Editorial Board): A GOP Specialty: Bad Senate Candidates. “Republicans have a special talent for nominating bad Senate candidates.”

• Business Insider: Mitch McConnell said that the GOP may screw up the midterms if it lets ‘unacceptable’ candidates get fielded in critical Senate races. “‘Having fully-electable nominees is critical from the Senate,’ he said.” 

• MSNBC: McConnell is right to worry about ‘bizarre’ GOP Senate candidates. “If McConnell is optimistic that his party won’t repeat its mistakes, and ‘unacceptable’ nominees are a thing of the past, he might soon be disappointed.”

Trump is making GOP primaries even more expensive.

• PA – NBC News: “Now, Oz’s Senate campaign says it plans to spend at least $1 million… promoting the endorsement and bashing his chief GOP rival, David McCormick.”

• PA – CNBC: Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary draws backing from some of Wall Street’s biggest billionaires, making it one of the most expensive midterm races

• NC – WRAL: $1.5M ad campaign touts Robinson’s backing of Budd; McCrory calls claims ‘total deception’. “The campaign is the latest effort by Club for Growth to influence the outcome… Budd has relied on millions of dollars in outside spending—including $14 million pledged from the group.”

• OH – POLITICO: Vance parlays Trump endorsement into new Thiel money

• OH – Cleveland.com: Ohio’s wealth primary: Ad spending nears $50 million in the GOP Senate race

Trump is forcing candidates to fully embrace his toxic election lies.

• AZ – Arizona Republic: ‘He’s going through the motions’: GOP Senate rivals rip Brnovich over 2020 election probe. “Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s Republican rivals in the race for the U.S. Senate are blasting his office’s investigation into the 2020 election… accusing him of dragging out the probe for political purposes.”

• CO – Associated Press: Colorado Republicans back election denier for Senate primary. “Colorado Republicans on Saturday voted to place on their U.S. Senate primary ballot a state representative who attended the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol and is a supporter of former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election.”

• NV – New York Times: A Republican Fights Voter Fraud in His Race (231 Days Before Election Day). “Nevadans still have 231 days until they head to the polls in November. But Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general of Nevada and a Republican candidate for Senate, is already laying detailed groundwork to fight election fraud in his race — long before a single vote has been cast or counted.”

• PA – Bloomberg: The Bridgewater CEO Who Went Full MAGA. “He shed his smooth, Davos Man persona and transformed himself faster than Clark Kent in a phone booth into a Trump-touting, China-bashing MAGA acolyte.”

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