Former president donald trump endorsed two candidates in Arizona’s competitive Republican primary for the state’s 8th Congressional District in a Truth Social post Saturday night. Trump previously endorsed only ardent election denier Abe Hamadeh, but chose to double down on his endorsement and also support Blake Masters in primary.
“We have a very important Republican primary election on Tuesday for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, with two spectacular America First candidates,” Trump he wrote. “Both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh have my full and complete endorsement to be the next Congressman from Arizona’s 8th Congressional District.”
Trump supported Masters in his previous race when he lost in the general election against incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in 2022. In the current congressional race, Trump ignored Masters, only endorsing Hamadeh until this weekend.
Trump previously said that Hamadeh was “doing a really fantastic job” and added during a campaign rally at a Phoenix megachurch in June that “his election was rigged last time,” reiterating baseless and baseless claims that election tampering was the guilty of Hamadeh’s fraud. failed bid in 2022 to become Arizona’s attorney general.
Trump’s last-minute double endorsement, coming just days before the Arizona primary on July 30, aligns the former president with his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio. Vance had already endorsed Masters in the primary in October, which put Trump and Vance at odds over their endorsements as of Saturday night.
“I am thrilled to be PASSED in my House race by our next Vice President, JD Vance!” Masters wrote in X on July 16, the day after Trump selected Vance as his pick for vice president. A Hamadeh campaign account responded to Masters’ question publishwriting “welp” and reminding social media users of Trump’s endorsement of their candidate.
Arizona’s 8th Congressional District has been under Republican control since a round of redistricting took effect in 2013. The winner of Tuesday’s primary will be the overwhelming favorite in the general election, likely against Democrat Gregory Whitten, who is running in the primary. unopposed Democrats.
This article was originally published in NBCNews. with
