NEW REPORTS: “Looming Over This Whole Thing” – Trump Continues Escalating Chaos In GOP Senate Primaries

Reuters: “Pennsylvania’s primary race illustrates how Trump has maintained his iron grip on the Republican Party.”

NBC: The “power struggle between McConnell and Trump is one of the more consequential subplots of this midterm election season.”

New reports from Reuters and NBC today continue to highlight how Trump is escalating the chaos in Republican Senate primaries – “looming” over races and working to play “king-maker” in primaries – and how the “power struggle between McConnell and Trump is one of the more consequential subplots of this midterm election season.”

Read more here:

Reuters: Trump is nowhere — and everywhere — in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race
By Jarrett Renshaw
January 25, 2022

• Former President Donald Trump is nowhere to be seen in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, but he nonetheless is shaping the election as Republican candidates vie for his support and the state party considers skipping an endorsement to avoid being at odds with him.

• Pennsylvania’s primary race illustrates how Trump has maintained his iron grip on the Republican Party as he aims to play king-maker in the midterm elections ahead of a possible 2024 presidential bid.

• Trump’s long shadow in Pennsylvania leaves the state Republican Party struggling to maintain its power. It is unsure how to proceed with its endorsement, which this year would be given in early February and has traditionally been a major asset to a candidate.

• “Trump is looming over this whole thing. Everyone knows if Trump comes out and endorses a candidate, then all bets are off,” said Val Biancaniello, a Republican organizer.

• Frank Schiefer, a Republican state committeeman from western Pennsylvania, said he will vote against endorsing a Senate candidate. A Trump endorsement might have swayed him to act otherwise, he said.

• Trump is expected to withhold making an endorsement until he has a clearer idea of who is most likely to win, according to two sources familiar with his thinking.

NBC News: McConnell is battling Trump for loyalty of Senate GOP
By Jonathan Allen
January 24th, 2022

• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is waging a quiet campaign to keep his caucus from getting a whole lot Trumpier after the midterms.

• In Arizona, McConnell is trying to recruit Gov. Doug Ducey, who angered Trump by refusing to overturn his state’s electoral votes, to run in a Republican primary that already features multiple Trump-aligned hopefuls. Many Washington Republicans are concerned that the party could blow its chance to defeat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly if it nominates a candidate who is seen as too extreme.

• The power struggle between McConnell and Trump is one of the more consequential subplots of this midterm election season, and its outcome promises to affect not only which party controls the Senate next year but also whether the Senate GOP is more or less Trump-flavored a year from now. It occurs against the backdrop of a deep freeze between the two men, which set in when McConnell condemned the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and said Trump had “provoked” it.

• Trump has taken to calling McConnell a “broken old crow.”

• Republicans readily point to what they say is a conflict of interest between McConnell and Trump that is apparent in races where there are more clear-cut choices between the wings of the party.

• Trump has long encouraged Republican senators to oust McConnell from his leadership post, and two candidates, Tshibaka and Eric Greitens of Missouri, have vowed to vote for someone else if they are elected.

Read more about how Trump is escalating chaos in GOP Senate primaries:

CBS: Trump holds first 2022 rally in Arizona as heated GOP Senate primary is underway; Associated Press: Some in GOP begin testing party’s lockstep loyalty to Trump; The Hill: GOP primary fights escalate after Trump’s endorsements; POLITICO: Trump is eyeing the White House and wants a more compliant Senate for when he gets there; The Hill: Trump struggles to clear GOP field in North Carolina Senate race; Washington Examiner: Republicans jockeying for primary position answer Trump’s call to oppose McConnell; Axios: Trump Republicans eager to dethrone McConnell as GOP leader; CNN: Is Mitch McConnell In Trouble?; POLITICO: ‘Get on the team or shut up’: How Trump created an army of GOP enforcers; The Hill: Trump getting tougher for Senate GOP to ignore; National Journal: Republicans suppressing their own voters in Arizona and Georgia; New York Times: Democrats See Edge in Early Senate Map as Trump Casts Big Shadow; NBC News: Trump’s stolen election lie is on the ballot in 2022, thanks to these candidates; Washington Post: Trump’s endorsements: revenge against enemies, rewards for friends and purveyors of election falsehoods; National Journal: Trump is sabotaging the GOP’s Senate prospects; POLITICO: Trump endorsements jolt GOP races; The Hill: Past criticism of Trump becomes potent weapon in GOP primaries; The Hill: Senate GOP worries Trump could derail bid for majority; CNN: ‘Potential red flag’: Trump struggles to clear Senate GOP fields; Associated Press: Trump’s grievances cloud Republican agenda heading into 2022; CNN: How Donald Trump is already sabotaging one of Senate Republicans’ best takeover chances; Associated Press: Trump gets wish in Georgia, sparks ‘a political civil war’; POLITICO: ‘Trump-hater’ vs. ‘Washington insider’: N.C. Republicans squabble over Senate seat; Charlotte Observer Editorial: Donald Trump just threw NC’s U.S. Senate race into chaos. Democrats should be delighted; POLITICO: Nasty N.C. Senate primary tests Trump’s sway over the GOP; Fox News: The frenzy to land Trump’s endorsement fuels an increasingly nasty GOP senate primary battle in Ohio; Wall Street Journal: How Tight Is Trump’s Grip on the GOP? Take a Look at the Ohio Senate Primary; The Hill: GOP hopefuls fight for Trump’s favor in Ohio Senate race.

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