The Washington Post reported that after Donald Trump endorsed the author of "Hillbilly Elegy" in the Ohio Republican Senate primary, he received so many phone calls that he refrained from accepting them for the rest of the day.
The president decided to back the candidate despite the fact that he had advisers and associates who were pushing him towards other candidates in the race.
The contest has been chaotic in recent months, with candidates trying to gain favor with the conservatives who helped Trump win the presidency, and have shifted Ohio rightward after its long run.
The group wrote a letter to the former president in an attempt to ward off an endorsement after the candidate was panned by over two dozen local GOP leaders.
While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again, they wrote in the letter, that the man who was working against you was the one who was actively working against your candidacy.
The chairman of the Columbiana County Republican Party, Dave Johnson, told The Post that he did not want the Vance endorsement to haunt the former president.
I don't want him to make a mistake for his sake, and I want Ohio to stay strong for Trump.
According to an advisor who spoke with The Post, the president stopped taking calls on Friday because he received so many.
Gibbons led the GOP primary with 22% of the vote, followed by Mandel at 20%, Vance at 11%, Timken at 9%, and Dolan at 7%.
During a 2016 interview with PBS journalist Charlie Rose, the Republican called himself a "Never Trump guy" and "idiot", as well as being very critical of Trump.
During an interview on Fox News last July, Vance said that he criticized Trump back in 2016 and asked people not to judge him based on what he said.
Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, and Peter Thiel, a billionaire, had already supported him.
According to a Trump advisor who spoke with The Post, the former president was willing to endorse the first-time candidate because he felt he could get across the finish line.
In announcing his endorsement, Trump acknowledged that he had been critical of him in the past.
In the Great State of Ohio, the candidate most qualified and ready to win in November is J.D. Vance. We can't play games. The former president said in a statement that it was all about winning.
J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades. He is our best chance of victory.
Portman threw his support behind Timken in February.
The winner of the GOP contest will face Tim Ryan in the Democratic primary.
A representative for Trump did not reply immediately.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
