In case you missed it: Donald Trump used his Saturday evening rally in Wellington, Ohio to inadvertently highlight the messy, messy state of Ohio Republicans’ U.S. Senate primary.
Nearing the end of his remarks, Trump “polled” the audience on their favorite candidate running — an exercise that produced “scant” applause and “weak,” “tepid responses” from the crowd.
With little enthusiasm for the various candidates, no consolidation of the still-expanding field, and no endorsement from Trump, it’s a safe bet that Ohio’s GOP “Hunger Games” and “Lord of the Flies” Senate primary is only going to get messier and nastier in the weeks and months ahead.
Read the coverage:
- “None of the four Republican U.S. Senate candidates hoping to get on stage with ex-President Donald Trump on Saturday got their wish, and the crowd at his ‘revenge tour’ rally gave tepid responses when Trump polled them asking who they liked best.”
- “‘Who likes Jane Timken? Who likes Josh Mandel? What about (Mike) Gibbons? Who likes Gibbons?’ Trump asked, conducting an applause poll. The response was scant and difficult to discern if one candidate prevailed over the others.”
- “Timken, Mandel, Gibbons and Moreno did not respond by deadline on Sunday to requests for comment about whether they felt snubbed by Trump.”
- “Each of the candidates has incorporated Trump’s lies in their campaigns to a large degree, in an apparent effort to gain his endorsement, or have refused to call Trump out about the falsehoods.”
- “None of the candidates, who are each vying for Mr. Trump’s endorsement, made it on stage, but they each earned Mr. Trump’s acknowledgment. He asked the crowd to cheer for the candidates they liked best, but the applause was weak and stopped before getting through all the names.”
- “The Republicans running for U.S. Senate in Ohio have been falling over themselves to cozy up to former President Donald Trump for months. On Saturday, they finally got their wish to do so in public, though without the payoff they likely dreamed of.”
- “Yet, in the end, Gibbons, Timken, former Treasurer Josh Mandel and Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno barely got a passing mention near the end of Trump’s speech. Cincinnati venture capitalist J.D. Vance – a former critic of Trump’s who has since shifted his views and is expected to announce his entry into the race this week – didn’t get a mention.”
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Published: Jun 30, 2021 | Last Modified: Jul 1, 2021