🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Republican candidates who received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump got a warning on Tuesday from a GOP strategist and political commentator.
"History, if it's any guide...Donald Trump's endorsements haven't been that tremendous in the general election, so I think it's best advised for Republicans to run on their own record and run on their own issues and advocate directly to the people," Republican strategist Alice Stewart said on CNN News Central.
"The stronger candidates out of the primary are the ones who keep Donald Trump at arm's length on the personal level but advocate for the policies because Republican voters do support Donald Trump because of the policies," she added.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
The context:
Stewart's comments come amid ongoing discussion of Republican candidates running against members of their own party in elections across the nation, including in the recent South Carolina, Virginia, Texas and Illinois primaries.
While speaking with CNN, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, "I've asked them all to cool it," regarding Republicans running against members of their own party.
"I am vehemently opposed to member-on-member action in primaries because it's not productive. And it causes division for obvious reasons, and we should not be engaging in that," Johnson told CNN. "So I'm telling everyone who's doing that to knock it off."
What we know:
Trump has already endorsed numerous candidates in primary races across the nation, and on Tuesday evening, his endorsement of Bernie Moreno will be tested in Ohio. Moreno is set to face off against two other Republicans—Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan—in a primary Senate race.
"You gotta win, Bernie...Don't leave me alone, Bernie," Trump said during a rally over the weekend.
Views:
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously called for more unity among the Republican Party.
"I like what I'm seeing. I want to see more unity within the party...We need to reach out and have more people join with us, from independents and Democrats that want to really look at the America they want to see going forward, they want to see for themselves and their children," McCarthy said while appearing on Fox News' America's Newsroom last month.
What's next:
Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee in the 2024 presidential race and many Republicans are running for office as the party seeks to maintain a small majority in the House.
Republican Representative Don Bacon told CNN that he thinks Republicans running against members of their own party in primary races, "undermines the team."
"We've undermined the norms of what we've had going back, really, a couple centuries, frankly," Bacon told CNN. "And now we're campaigning in each others' districts. It undermines the team. So, I think it's wrong."
Update 3/19/24, 10:21 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/19/24, 10:53 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
About the writer
Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more