Even though former President Donald Trump has lost proxy battles with other key Republicans, he remains the most sought-after endorsement in the GOP. But Trump’s time as kingmaker could be coming to an end now that his former allies have had a taste of independence.
More than 100 of Trump’s endorsed candidates have won their primaries, and support from the former president still seems to go a long way with voters. Trump has reason to brag about his endorsement record, but his former allies are starting to make their own set of endorsements, and in several instances, they’ve proven powerful enough to hold their own.
The former president’s mixed results in the ongoing primary elections, coupled with the unfavorable public hearings from the House committee investigating January 6, 2021, mean voters “are likely to see more people re-discover their courage,” GOP strategist Alex Patton told Newsweek.
“Republicans aren’t going to wake up one day and declare they have found Jesus and changed their minds about the former Republican president because the social pressure within the ‘tribe’ won’t stand for it. Republicans will simply migrate,” he explained. “What we may be seeing is the beginning of ‘turning the page’ to ‘what’s next?'”
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In Tuesday’s runoff election in Georgia, Trump-endorsed Vernon Jones was crushed by businessman Mike Collins, losing by nearly 50 points to his opponent, who was backed by Governor Brian Kemp, a Trump rival. Kemp became one of the former president’s favorite targets after he refused to help overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The governor himself dealt Trump a massive blow last month when he beat out former Senator David Perdue, Trump’s pick, for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Kemp’s primary victory was also seen as a win for former Vice President Mike Pence, who stumped for the governor after slowly distancing himself from his former commander-in-chief.
And it’s not just in Georgia where Trump has lost a proxy war. Last week, Representative Nancy Mace won South Carolina’s GOP primary against Trump’s candidate, former state Representative Katie Arrington, with a full-throated endorsement from…
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