Former President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Ted Budd in North Carolina’s 2022 Senate race, giving the three-term congressman a huge boost in the Republican primary.
Trump made his endorsement Saturday evening at the GOP state convention in Greenville.
“This gentleman is going to be your next senator. He’s going to be somebody that you’re going to be so proud of. He will fight like hell,” Trump told a crowd of about 1,200 at the Greenville Convention Center. “He will fight like nobody fights.”
Budd, from Davie County, is one of five Republicans running to replace Sen. Richard Burr, who is not running for a fourth term in 2022.
Former Gov. Pat McCrory, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker, Brunswick County Commissioner Marty Cooke and former Department of Defense employee Jen Banwart are also running in the GOP primary, which is scheduled for March 8, 2022.
“Mr. President, this means the world. Thank you. We got a lot of hard work ahead,” Budd said. “So let’s win this together. Let’s get back to making America great again.”
Trump made veiled comments that appeared to be about the other top-tier candidates — McCrory and Walker.
“You can’t pick people who have already lost two races,” Trump said. McCrory lost two races for governor sandwiched around his 2012 victory.
Lara Trump, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law and a North Carolina native, announced Saturday night that she would not run for the seat in 2022. She said with two young children — ages 3 and 1 — it would be “very hard” for her to run for Senate at this point.
“I am saying no for now, not no forever,” said Trump, who grew up in Wilmington and graduated from N.C. State University.
Donald Trump said he put “a little pressure” on Lara Trump to make a final decision on the race “because we have to pick somebody.”
He called Budd “very special” and said Budd has always worked with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and his wife, Deb. Budd is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which was co-founded by Meadows and emerged as Trump’s staunchest supporters in the U.S. House.
“(Budd) hasn’t been pushing me at all, unlike some of the others that are running that won’t win. They won’t win,” Trump said, likely alluding to Walker.
Walker, like Budd, visited Trump in South Florida earlier this year. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis used a similar line about Walker, calling into question his ability to hold the seat for Republicans.
McCrory said he was “disappointed” in Trump’s endorsement of Budd, calling the congressman “a Washington insider who has done more to oppose the Trump agenda than anyone in the race.”
“Now, he’ll do even more to defeat President Trump’s agenda if he’s the Republican nominee by giving our seat in the US Senate to Chuck Schumer and the Democrats. Ted Budd’s bought-and-paid-for Washington insider voting record is not electable in North Carolina,” McCrory said in a statement Saturday night.
Walker won a straw poll at the state convention, his campaign said. All 1,200 delegates were eligible to vote in the non-binding poll, which was conducted before Trump endorsed Budd. Walker took 44% to Budd’s 29% and McCrory’s 18%.
“Our team is working harder, growing faster, focused on the people of North Carolina and determined to win this race and finally give our state a real conservative senator,” Walker said in a statement.
State Democrats, who have five candidates in their primary as well, were quick to point out the GOP fight.
“One thing is clear: Republicans in the North Carolina Senate primary are in disarray, and this GOP intraparty fight is only escalating,” Bobbie Richardson, the party chairwoman, said in a news release.
Before he entered the race, Budd spoke with Lara Trump about her potential candidacy. His campaign consultant said if Lara Trump ran, Budd would not have run — a position echoed by the Club for Growth, which endorsed Budd shortly after he got in the race.
“It would be best if they weren’t both running,” Club for Growth President David McIntosh said at the time.
Budd called Lara Trump “a heck of a teammate,” citing her work in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
“And you’d be a heck of a senator,” Budd said.
Despite his 2020 loss, Donald Trump remains the most popular — and influential — Republican in the country. The North Carolina state party, for example, censured Burr after he voted to convict Trump in February for his role inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Earlier this week, Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx for a 10th term.
