Trump makes series of Saturday endorsements

Former President Trump handed out a slew of endorsements on Saturday for candidates and incumbents in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Idaho ahead of their primaries scheduled for Tuesday.

Trump endorsed Reps. Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) for reelection.

He also endorsed state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R) in Pennsylvania’s governor race and California State Assembly member Kevin Kiley in the House race in California’s 3rd Congressional District ahead of the state’s June 7 primary election.

The endorsement that perhaps received the most attention was the one for Mastriano, who was subpoenaed earlier this year by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

“There is no one in Pennsylvania who has done more, or fought harder, for Election Integrity than State Senator Doug Mastriano,” Trump said.

In a letter to Mastriano back in February, Jan. 6 Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said the committee understood the state senator had been involved in a plan to provide the Senate president with an alternative slate of electors and had spoken with Trump.

“We understand you participated in these activities based on assertions of voter fraud and other asserted irregularities and based on a stated belief that under the U.S. Constitution the ‘state legislature has the sole authority to direct the manner of selecting delegates to the Electoral College.’ We have an interest in understanding these activities and the theories that motivated them,” Thompson said.

Among the sitting congressmen Trump endorsed, four — Fulcher, Rouzer, Hudson and Bishop — were among the lawmakers who heeded the then-president’s calls to object to the certification of election results following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Fulcher represents Idaho’s 1st Congressional District. In North Carolina, Rouzer, Hudson, Bishop and McHenry represent the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Congressional Districts respectively.

“David was an early predictor of our historic success, and he is a staunch supporter of our America First movement. A Conservative Warrior, he is fighting to Protect Life, Defend the Second Amendment, Support our Farmers, Grow our Economy, and Champion our Veterans. David Rouzer has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump said in one statement issued through his Save America PAC.

“I endorsed and campaigned for Dan during his special election in 2019. We soundly defeated the Radical Left, and we will do so again in North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District,” the former president said in another statement.

The endorsements come ahead of primaries in Idaho, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oregon and Pennsylvania on Tuesday, which gives most of the candidates Trump backed little time to capitalize on the former president’s influence.

After all 22 of the primary candidates he endorsed secured victory in Indiana and Ohio, Trump received his first blow on Tuesday when one of his endorsed candidates, Nebraska gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster (R), lost his race.