Former President Donald Trump is endorsing Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania, after throwing his support behind a different candidate during McCormick’s first Senate bid two years ago.
“Tonight I officially endorse David McCormick. He’s a good man. He wants to run a good ship. He’s a smart guy, who was a very successful guy. He’s given up a lot to do this,” Trump declared. Saturday, as he spoke at a large rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.
McCormick, a former hedge fund executive, West Point graduate, Gulf War combat veteran and Treasury Department official during former President George W. Bush’s administration, launched his second Senate bid last year. He will run unopposed in the April 23 primary in this crucial battleground state and will face veteran Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. in November.
“I’ll tell you what: It’s the Republican Party candidate, David McCormick. Go out and vote for him because Casey doesn’t do anything,” Trump emphasized.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump greets attendees during a campaign event in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, Saturday, April 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti) (AP Photo/Joe Lamberti)
Casey, the son of a popular former governor, served for a decade as Pennsylvania’s auditor general and then treasurer before winning election to the Senate in 2006.
The Senate race in Pennsylvania is one of the few nationwide that will likely decide whether Republicans take back the majority in the chamber.
Democrats currently control the U.S. Senate with a 51-49 majority, but Republicans see a favorable Senate map this year, with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.
Three of those seats are in red states that Trump won in his 2020 election loss to President Biden: Ohio, Montana and West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election. And Pennsylvania is one of five key general election battlegrounds where Democrats are defending seats. Democrats may also have to worry about holding onto the open Senate seat in Maryland, where former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is running.
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McCormick was not at Saturday’s rally. His campaign told Fox News that the candidate had a pre-scheduled family engagement that he made long before Trump recently announced his rally in Schnecksville, which is in the Lehigh Valley, a highly competitive part of the swing state of the United States. northeast.
After the rally, McCormick thanked Trump for the support in a social media post.
“Thank you, President Trump,” he said. “Together we will achieve a great victory for Pennsylvania and America in November.”
Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick begins a campaign bus tour in Lititz, Pennsylvania, on February 10, 2024. (Dave McCormick Campaign)
McCormick was part of a crowded and combustible battle for the 2022 Republican nomination. He ended up losing the nomination by a razor-thin margin to famed physician and cardiac surgeon Mehmet Oz, who scored a primary victory thanks to Trump’s late endorsement. Oz ended up losing the general election to the Democrats. John Fetterman.
“I don’t know David well, and he may be a good guy, but he’s not MAGA,” Trump said of McCormick at the time, referring to his legions of Make America Great Again loyalists and supporters.
This time, McCormick faces no major opposition in the GOP primary. He is endorsed by longtime Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and the Pennsylvania Republican Party, and was encouraged to run by the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is the party’s campaign arm in the Senate.
McCormick endorsed Trump early last month after the former president scored major victories in the coast-to-coast Super Tuesday races and Nikki Haley, Trump’s last remaining rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, dropped out of the race. White House.
Trump’s visit to Pennsylvania is his third this year. On February 9 he made a stop in Harrisburg to address NRA members gathered at the group’s Great American Outdoor Show. Days later, he made an unusual stop in Philadelphia at Sneaker Con – a major trade show – to sell new Trump-branded sneakers.
Pennsylvania is one of six battleground states where Biden narrowly edged out Trump in the presidential election four years ago to capture the White House.
Most of the latest public opinion polls in Pennsylvania suggest a tight race between Biden and Trump for the state’s 19 electoral votes.
The president returns to his home state on Tuesday for three days of events in Pennsylvania, where his political advisers say Biden aims to highlight his plans to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and corporations while drawing contrasts with Trump on economic issues. .
President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event at Strath Haven High School in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Biden begins the three-day tour with a speech in Scranton, where he spent part of his childhood. The president has repeatedly returned to the working-class town in northeastern Pennsylvania as he made populist speeches to Americans.
The president will travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, followed by a campaign event Thursday in Philadelphia. Biden’s stop in Pennsylvania will come as Trump makes history as the first current or former president in the country’s history to go on trial.
Trump’s trial for maintaining his silence will begin Monday in a New York City court.
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The former president, who is on trial on 34 state felony counts, is accused of falsifying business records in connection with 2016 hush money payments he made to Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with adult film actress.
Trump has repeatedly denied falsifying business records, as well as the alleged sexual encounter with Daniels.
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