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Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Republican Senate candidate Mike Sapraicone, whose company previously donated to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Sapraicone, a retired New York Police Department detective, is vying for the seat of Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. He is the CEO of the security firm Squad Security.
James filed a lawsuit in September 2022 accusing Trump, his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, of fraudulently overvaluing assets to secure more favorable bank loans.
In February, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump will be fined roughly $355 million and be barred from doing business in New York for three years after a monthslong civil trial. Trump has maintained his innocence and claimed it was politically motivated.
Trump endorsed Sapraicone on Saturday, writing on his Truth Social account: "Congratulations to Mike Sapraicone on running against one of the worst Senators in the U.S. Senate, Kirsten Gillibrand. Mike is a strong and successful person, and I look forward to working with him to take New York State away from the people who have destroyed it."
In response, Sapraicone thanked Trump, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "I am grateful to President Trump and deeply honored to have his endorsement and support to run for the U.S. Senate. I look forward to working with President Trump — and thank him for putting his faith in me."
The endorsement comes after former Representative Peter King took aim at Sapraicone as he pointed out that Squad Security donated $1,000 to James in March 2022 when Trump was being investigated by the New York attorney general. As a result, Sapraicone faced calls to drop out of the race.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email and Sapraicone via Instagram direct message for comment.
"The right thing for [Sapraicone] to do is to withdraw from the race, and if he doesn't, I would ask President Trump to ask him to withdraw," King said during an appearance on WABC's Sid & Friends show.
King is not the first to criticize Sapraicone. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also disagreed with Trump's endorsement.
On his Sunday WABC radio program, Giuliani told Newsmax contributor John Tobacco that he was "angry" and "disappointed" by Trump's endorsement because of the donation.
"I'm just wondering who in Trump land could overlook [the donation to James]," Giuliani added.
Sapraicone has already secured the GOP nomination with 84 percent of the vote of delegates at the Republican Party convention last month.
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About the writer
Natalie Venegas is a Weekend Reporter at Newsweek based in New York. Her focus is reporting on education, social justice ... Read more