Trump looks to bolster Ted Budd with North Carolina rally

Former President Trump will hold a rally in North Carolina in early April, hoping to boost support for Rep. Ted Budd (N.C.) in a tight Republican primary for an open Senate seat.

The upcoming April 9 rally in Selma, N.C., announced on Friday by Trump’s Save America PAC, will also feature remarks from other Trump-backed candidates. The rally is the latest in a series of similar events held by Trump in support of his endorsed candidates as the GOP looks to take back control of the Senate.

Trump endorsed Budd last summer. The Republican congressman faces a competitive primary in the race to replace the retiring Sen. Richard Burr (R), with former Gov. Pat McCrory (R) and former Rep. Mark Walker (R) also vying for the seat. 

Budd, who was elected to the House in 2016, quickly cast himself as a strong Trump ally when he joined the race in April.

Since then, however, he has drawn concerns from some Republicans who worry about his lagging poll numbers. Trump himself sought to intervene on behalf of Budd late last year, attempting to persuade Walker, another Republican who has pitched himself as a natural choice for the former president’s base, to drop his Senate bid and run for the House instead. But Walker declined, and both of men have been trailing McCrory. 

A February poll conducted by Remington Research Group, and obtained by Politico, showed Budd falling 5 points since a January poll conducted by the firm. It put McCrory at 35 percent, Budd at 24 and Walker at 17.