Category Archives: Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump suggested again this weekend that he was likely to make another White House run in 2024, according to a speech to Republican donors obtained by The Washington Post.

I wonder who that might be, he quipped Saturday about the next potential GOP presidential nominee, with the Post reporting that the crowd responded by chanting his name.

Trump spoke at length in the New Orleans Four Seasons hotel, reiterating false claims that he won in 2020. Bipartisan local, state and federal officials, even Trump-appointed judges and Trumps own attorney general and Department of Homeland Security leaders, say there was no widespread fraud or irregularities impacting the race won by President Joe Biden.

Weve already won two presidential elections, Trump claimed without presenting evidence of a second victory. And now I feel obligated that we have to really look strongly at doing it again. We are looking at it very, very strongly. We have to do it. We have to do it.

Trumps comments mirrored those from his speech a few weeks ago at the the Conservative Political Action Conference.

On November 2024, they will find out like never before, Trump told the Orlando crowd last month. We did it twice and well do it again, were going to be doing it again a third time.

Biden has faced dwindled approval ratings since taking office in 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic, Afghanistan withdrawal and rising inflation often cited by pollsters as leading concerns among voters.

The White House points to millions of jobs gained over the last year and Bidens signature of a bipartisan infrastructure package, a bill that should see at least $9 billion go toward Massachusetts infrastructure projects.

Bidens approval rating may have seen a bounce since his State of the Union address last week, with NPR reporting that a strong majority of Americans, including Republicans, support his tough sanctions on Russia over President Vladimir Putins unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

Amid the run up to the 2022 midterms, Trump on Saturday continued his practice of roasting several establishment Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom he painted as insufficiently loyal to him.

Were doing great as a party, he argued. The Republican Party is now a fighting party. We are now a winning party. We are never going back to what it was before. It was heading in the wrong direction.

The former president also weighed in on Russias attack on Ukraine, a former Soviet republic thats been independent since 1991.

According to the Post, Trump joked that the U.S. should place Chinese flags on its F-22 planes and bomb the s*** out of Russia.

And then we say, China did it, we didnt do it, China did it, and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch, he added.

The crowd of about 250 donors laughed, the Post reported.

Trump, who in 2007 wrote to Putin to congratulate him for being named TIME Magazines Man of the Year I am a big fan of yours! Trump wrote claimed the Kremlin leader would not have invaded his sovereign neighbor if he still sat in the White House.

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We have to do it, former President Donald Trump says of potential 2024 White House run - MassLive.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Do you want to know more about your parents or grandparents? Or perhaps a few new tidbits about the well-known born during the 1940s like Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden?

Beginning in April, you will be able to delve into a slice of United States history and learn more about how much the country has changed - or not changed - since the war years and the onset of the baby boom.

On April 1, the U.S. Census Bureau will release the 1950 census records from the National Archives and Records Administration.

This is the raw stuff with names, addresses, family ties, and more attached, not the normal trove of numbers the Census Bureau rolls out. Seventy-two years after each census, this information becomes public. The latest batch, for the first time, will include people born between Census Day in April 1940 and Census Day in 1950.

For Cleveland, the largest swath of the citys history will finally be available, painting a picture of the town at its population peak, 914,808 citizens, making it the nations seventh-largest city at the time.

We compiled a list of famous people born in the 1940s appearing in the census for the first time, including four presidents, Ohioans such as actor Ed ONeil and author R.L. Stein, and a litany of musicians, actors, athletes, and public figures.

Note: Some mobile users may need to use this link instead to view the least of famous people born during the 1940s.

Records will be made available on a new NARA website. Stay tuned for more details. But officials promise a name search function powered by an artificial intelligence/machine learning and optical character recognition technology tool, which helps translate handwritten names into the system. Bulk download capabilities of the records are also planned to be available once the site launches.

The 1950 census also marks the first time Americans abroad were enumerated, including members of the military and government employees living in another country. Additionally, the first non-military computer helped tabulate some of the statistics for the 1954 economic census.

Past census information is kept from the public for a 72-year waiting period meant to protect peoples privacy, back then considered the approximate lifetime of a person. NARA began releasing census data in this manner in 1942.

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From Bruce Springsteen & Diana Ross to Joe Biden & Donald Trump, April 1 release of 1950 census forms will in - cleveland.com

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 26. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 26.

A "perfect" call, it was not.

Then-President Donald Trump was withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Ukraine's defense as he was asking its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to investigate Trump's potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden, and his son, Hunter Biden.

That 2019 call got Trump impeached. But the Senate acquitted him, and he dismissed the controversy as a politically motivated hit job and his base went along.

Now, with Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and Zelenskyy being hailed around the world as a hero for his resolve, that call is put into a very different light.

"There's just a lot of evidence that Trump was wrong on this issue [Ukraine] and that in many ways, we undermined the NATO alliance and we undermined Zelenskyy's position in the eyes of Russia and Putin," said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist and former senior adviser on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

Trump has shifted his positions on the war in Ukraine. Shortly before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, Trump called Putin "smart" and "savvy" because Putin had declared portions of Ukraine "independent," something Putin had no right to do.

After the invasion began, Trump defended saying that Putin was "smart," then called President Biden "weak" and described NATO countries as "not so smart."

"The problem is not that Putin is smart which of course he is smart," Trump told a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "But the real problem is that our leaders are dumb. Dumb. So dumb."

As scenes of war and death in Ukraine at the hands of Russia have played out for the world to see on television screens all day for days on end, Trump has changed his tune.

In recent days, he called what's happening there a "holocaust"; said many times over that the war would never have happened if he were still president; and even called for the U.S. to attack Russia but make it look like it was actually China by flying American planes with a Chinese flag on the side.

"And then we say, 'China did it,' " Trump told Republican donors Saturday in New Orleans, according to a recording obtained by The Washington Post. " 'We didn't do it China did it,' and then they start fighting with each other and we sit back and watch."

It's the kind of simple-sounding amateur solution that Trump has floated throughout his political life, one that is impracticable in a complicated world.

A pro-Ukraine protester demonstrates outside the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., on Monday. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images hide caption

"Trump is on the wrong side of the issue, I think it's fair to say," said Stephen Hayes, editor at the conservative outlet The Dispatch. "I don't think he's likely to bring a lot of people back to a pro-Putin stance. If anything, we're likely to see the hostility towards Putin and toward this brutal invasion increase, I think, in pretty significant ways, as it becomes clearer and clearer what Putin is actually doing."

Unlike other issues, from Medicare to trade, in which Trump has brought Republicans to his view, he has struggled to lead on his position on Putin and Ukraine.

"I do think this is a situation where it's going to be harder for Trump to bring that base along," Hayes said. "And maybe that's one of the reasons that we're starting to see him soften that position."

Whether it will matter for Republican voters, as Trump continues to strongly tease a 2024 presidential run, is tougher to say.

"I think it is a risk," Madden said. "But if the question is, how motivated are our base Republican voters on issues of national security and foreign policy or the threat of Russia? It's not as big an issue as some of these other cultural issues, where there is much closer alignment with Trump."

The culture wars, tax cuts and wanting government to do less really appear to be the unifying axis right now for the Republican Party. But if Ukraine continues to get the kind of attention it's getting, that could change things, Hayes said.

"The reality ultimately does matter, right?" he said. "If we just see this kind of destruction that continues to get the kind of media attention it deserves, it changes things. It'll end up changing things in our country. And I think people won't stand for that. I really do."

Few Republicans, however, have called Trump out for his coziness toward Russia and his initial softer stance toward Putin. Instead, they are speaking more clearly in their denunciation of Putin but charging that Biden has botched the response.

Trump's former vice president, Mike Pence, reportedly took an oblique shot at Trump in a speech before GOP donors Friday.

"There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin," Pence said. "There is only room for champions of freedom."

He also praised NATO, which Trump has continuously criticized.

"Where would our friends in Eastern Europe be today if they were not in NATO?" Pence said. "Where would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom?"

The problem, Madden says, is that this kind of message isn't being delivered repeatedly across the Republican Party and done so explicitly.

"That's one of the things about any sort of counterpoints for Trump within the Republican Party right now is those efforts have never really been broad," Madden said. "They've never really been sustained. They've never been methodical. They've always just been glancing blows. And that's why he still has such a strong command over the party apparatus."

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Trump shifts on Russia, Ukraine to catch up to other Republicans - NPR

Floundering in his attempts to wield political power while lacking a political office, Donald Trump looks increasingly like a stray orange hair to be flicked off the nations sleeve. His residual power, which he must use or lose, is to influence his partys selection of candidates for state and federal offices. This is, however, perilous because he has the power of influence only if he is perceived to have it. That perception will dissipate if his interventions in Republican primaries continue to be unimpressive.

So, Trump must try to emulate the protagonist of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. In Mark Twains novel, a 19th-century American is transported back in time to Britain in the year 528. He gets in trouble, is condemned to death, but remembers that a solar eclipse occurred on the date of his scheduled execution. He saves himself by vowing to extinguish the sun but promising to let it shine again if his demands are met.

Trump is faltering at the business of commanding outcomes that are, like Twains eclipse, independent of his interventions. Consider the dilemma of David Perdue.

He is a former Republican senator because Trump, harping on the cosmic injustice of his November loss in 2020, confused and demoralized Georgia Republicans enough to cause Perdues defeat by 1.2 percentage points in the January 2021 runoff. Nevertheless, Trump talked Perdue into running in this years gubernatorial primary against Georgias Republican incumbent, Brian Kemp, whom Trump loathes because Kemp spurned Trumps demand that Georgias presidential vote be delegitimized. In a February poll, Kemp led Perdue by 10 points.

Trump failed in his attempt to boost his preferred Senate candidate in North Carolina, Rep. Ted Budd, by pressuring a rival out of the race. As of mid-January, Budd was trailing in the polls. Trump reportedly might endorse a second Senate candidate in Alabama, his first endorsement, of Rep. Mo Brooks, having been less than earthshaking. Trump has endorsed Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin in the gubernatorial primary against Gov. Brad Little. A poll published in January: Little 59%, McGeachin 18%. During Trumps presidency, a majority of Republicans said they were more supporters of Trump than of the GOP. That has now reversed.

Trump is an open book who has been reading himself to the nation for 40 years. In that time, he has changed just one important word in his torrent of talk: He has replaced Japan with China in assigning blame for our nations supposed anemia. He is an entertainer whose repertoire is stale.

A European war is unhelpful for Trump because it reminds voters that Longfellow was right: Life is real, life is earnest. Trumps strut through presidential politics was made possible by an American reverie; war in Europe has reminded people that politics is serious.

From Capitol Hill to city halls, Democrats have presided over surges of debt, inflation, crime, pandemic authoritarianism and educational intolerance. Public schools, a point of friction between citizens and government, are hostages of Democratic-aligned teachers unions that have positioned K-12 education in an increasingly adversarial relationship with parents. The most lethal threat to Democrats, however, is the message Americans are hearing from the partys media-magnified progressive minority: You should be ashamed of your country.

Trumps message is similar. He says this country is saturated with corruption, from the top, where dimwits represent the evidently dimwitted voters who elected them, down to municipalities that conduct rigged elections. Progressives say the nations past is squalid and not really past; Trump says the nations present is a disgrace.

Speaking of embarrassments: We are the sum of our choices, and Vladimir Putin has provoked some Trump poodles to make illuminating ones. Their limitless capacity for canine loyalty now encompasses the Kremlin war criminal. (The first count against Nazi defendants at Nuremberg: Planning, preparation, initiation and waging of wars of aggression.) For example, the vaudevillian-as-journalist Tucker Carlson, who never lapses into logic, speaks like an arrested-development adolescent: Putin has never called me a racist, so there.

J.D. Vance, groveling for Trumps benediction (Vance covets Ohios Republican Senate nomination), two weeks ago said: I dont really care what happens to Ukraine. Apparently upon discovering that Ohio has 43,000 Ukrainian Americans, Vance underwent a conviction transplant, saying, Russias assault on Ukraine is unquestionably a tragedy, and emitting clouds of idolatry for Trumps supposedly Metternichian diplomacy regarding Putin.

For Trump, the suppurating wound on American life, and for those who share his curdled venom, war is a hellacious distraction from their self-absorption. Fortunately, their ability to be major distractions is waning.

George Wills email address is georgewill@washpost.com.

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Donald Trump looks increasingly like a stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation's sleeve - Cumberland Times-News

On Saturday, while speaking with Republican donors in New Orleans, former President Donald Trump made a strange comment regarding how he might handle the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In audio obtained by The Washington Post, Trump told the crowd that he would paint Chinese flags on American F-22 planes and bomb Russia, thus making it appear as though China had instigated the attack against Russia. According to Trump, the American people would "sit back and watch" as the two countries fought one another.It's still unclear whether Trump was joking or not.

During this same meeting, Trump seemed to also make it clear that he disagreed with NATO's actions since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and that, perhaps, if he had won the 2020 presidential election, Trump would have already gotten American troops more actively involved in stopping the conflict. "Are all of these nations going to stand by and watch perhaps millions of people be slaughtered as the onslaught continues?" Trump said at the meeting (viaCBS News)."At what point do countries say, 'No, we can't take this massive crime against humanity?' We can't let it happen. We can't let it continue to happen."

Given his prior relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and leniency on the actions of Russia, it's unclear if Trump would actually get involved in stopping the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

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Donald Trump Reveals The Unusual Way He Would Handle The War In Ukraine - The List

Get ready! Your favorite president will see you soon!

That's the only post that former President Donald Trump has left on his "conservative friendly"alternative to Twitter (NYSE: TWTR), Truth Social.

Axios reports that Trump is blowing the launch of the new social media companyvia a series of unforced errors.

What Happened? Released on Feb. 21, Truth Social quickly rose to No. 1 on the App Store,with the waitlist swelling to over 1 million users before falling to No. 57.Axios reporting shows it is just behind Tinderand Planet Fitness Workouts.

Trump Media and Technology Group merged with the special purpose acquisition companyDigital World Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: DWAC), making DWAC responsible for the launch of the social media platform.

Shares of the SPAC have moved 860% highersince the Oct. 21 announcement.

Why It Matters: A niche group of investors have discovered companies with lower floats that have some kind of connection to Trump. When Digital World stock moves, these stocks follow in tandem.

Phunware Inc (NASDAQ: PHUN) Phunware is a mobile development and blockchain company whose connection with Digital World relies purely on sympathy. Phunware helped develop the official Donald Trump app during his 2020 campaign.

CF Acquisition Corp VI (NASDAQ: CFVI) Cantor Fitzgerald's SPACrecently merged with Canadian video-sharing service Rumble. Rumble is known for its ties to controversial, and often conservative, political figures. Most noteworthy of this group is Trump. CEO Howard Lutnick told Bloomberg that he could confirm that The Trump Media Group and Digital World were utilizing Rumble for its distribution services.

SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp. (NYSE: BRCC) SilverBox recently completed its acquisition of Black Rifle Coffee, a conservative and veteran-owned coffee company that has been known to be a predominately pro-Trump brandandalso touts partnerships with the likes of Joe Rogan.

2022 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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4 Stocks To Watch With Connections To Donald Trump - Benzinga

Referring to the Russia-Ukraine Crisis, Trump praised Putin as a genius and stated that China is going to be next under Bidens watch.

In a recent interview with the conservative talk radio program The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, former U.S. President Donald Trump confidently stated that China is going to be next and would absolutely be going after Taiwan.

He accused the Biden administration of being weak and assured the hosts that an invasion would never have happened under his own presidency. Trump also praised Putin as a genius for sending Russian troops into Ukraine under the guise of peace keepers. He stated, Heres a guy whos very savvy.

The hosts mocked President Joe Bidens tweets from two years ago in which he wrote: Im the only person in this field whos ever gone toe-to-toe with [Putin]. They claimed Russian invasions also took place under the Obama administration, suggesting the two leaders had weak positions on foreign policy.

As president, Trump was involved and invested in several Taiwanese affairs, especially in regards to military expansion. As an NPR article from 2020 pointed out, Trump made many efforts as president to forge a stronger partnership with Taiwan, including accepting a congratulatory call from Taiwans president on his win and dealing a multi-billion dollar arms sale with the Taiwanese military. Under his administration, a brand new $255 million dollar representative office was also opened in Taipei, the capital. Simultaneously during this time, Trump had continued to take an aggressive stance against trade with China by imposing tariffs.

China and Taiwan have had separate governments since 1949, when communists overtook the Republic of China in a civil war. They went on to set up the Peoples Republic of China, whereas the members of the Republic of China fled to Taiwan to establish their own separate government. Taiwan continues to declare its independence, while China continues to claim it as its territory under its One country, two systems stance.

In response to comparisons of the Russia-Ukraine Crisis to the situation between China and Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hya Chunying firmly reiterated Chinas One-China sentiments by noting that Taiwan is indeed not Ukraine and would always remain an inseparable part of Chinas territory. This, Hya continued, is an irrefutable historical and legal fact.

Tensions are on the rise as Taiwans need for military defense comes into question amidst an already strained relationship between it and China. Chinas air force has been spotted circling Taiwans skies.

Featured image via Fox News

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Donald Trump: 'China's going to be next,' will absolutely ...

After the election, Mr. Trump and associates had numerous interactions with Georgia officials, including a call in which he urged the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to find 11,780 votes, the number of votes he would have needed to overcome the lead held in the state by President Biden.

It is the only known criminal inquiry that focuses directly on Mr. Trumps efforts to overturn the election results. In January, Fulton Countys top judge approved Ms. Williss request for a special grand jury in the matter.

In January 2020, Karl Racine, the attorney general for the District of Columbia, sued Mr. Trumps inaugural committee, saying it vastly overpaid his family business by more than $1 million for space at the Trump International Hotel during the January 2017 inaugural.

The lawsuit, which names the inaugural committee, the hotel, and the Trump Organization as defendants, is set to go to trial in September, after a judge ordered last week that it could move forward.

Mr. Racines office has subpoenaed a range of parties, including Melania Trump, the former first lady, and has questioned Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Thomas J. Barrack Jr., who chaired the inaugural committee.

A House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol aided by more than a dozen former federal prosecutors is examining the role Mr. Trump and his allies may have played in his efforts to hold onto power after his electoral defeat in November 2020.

While the committee itself does not have the power to bring criminal charges, it could refer the matter to the Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to prosecute them through the Justice Department.

Michael Rothfeld and Jonah E. Bromwich contributed reporting.

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Where the Investigations Into Donald Trump Stand - The New York Times

Donald Trump may have lost the last US election and be under investigation over the 2021 Capitol riot, but the former president's dominance remains undented in the Republican party, where he is virtually unchallenged.

The 75-year-old billionaire is due to speak on Saturday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida -- an opportunity to gild his popularity.

Even before his arrival at the hotel hosting the conference, Trump's presence is felt in the numerous red "Make America Great Again" hats and in speeches, like that of Senator Ted Cruz, rife with taunts and attacks on figures reviled by conservatives.

"Trump is so popular that whatever position he takes most Republicans feel that they have to go along with them or at least not overly criticize them," Aubrey Jewett, political science professor at the University of Central Florida, told AFP.

"Because if they do, the president is going to take political revenge."

- 'Future of the party' -

Trump's influence looms large as midterm legislative elections approach in November, with the political risks to Republicans who don't fall in line implied in some of his statements.

Last month, Trump suggested he might pardon those who participated in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol if he were reelected president, a provocative proposal met with little pushback from Republicans save a handful, including New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who said those who stormed the seat of US democracy to stop the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden's election win needed to be held accountable.

The former president continues to insist the election was stolen, despite 50 percent of Republican voters wanting to put those accusations aside and look to the future, according to a Politico poll published earlier this month.

"I think many of the Republican leaders, including a lot of campaign managers, would rather put that behind them," Jewett said.

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"They don't see it as the future of the party. They'd rather not talk about any issues that could be controversial with voters."

But Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, underscored that Trump "is still a person whose endorsement is sought after, especially in the most conservatives areas."

She added, however, that "we are increasingly seeing that some of the language and tone things don't work as well with woman voters. And they are often the swing voters."

- DeSantis, a possible adversary?

Trump's dominance is such that few other leading voices stand out in the party, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appearing to be the only possible exception.

On Thursday, DeSantis' CPAC speech, in which he again criticized Biden and presented himself as a defender of individual freedom against a heavy-handed federal government, was met with cheers and applause.

Some of his policies in Florida, such as prohibiting Covid-19 mask mandates in schools, made him a favorite of media like Fox News.

While DeSantis hasn't said he's aiming for the White House, he also hasn't ruled it out even if Trump runs.

A poll released this week by the University of North Florida found that among Republicans registered in the state, the governor is almost neck and neck with Trump as a favorite for president.

"As a governor, DeSantis has a very good feel of the economical issues that affect local governments and local businesses," MacManus said.

"And he's able to speak about the economy in a way more meaningful to people as the grassroot. And right now the economy is the big issue."

A possible sign of DeSantis' growing influence, according to the New York Times, is that he's drawn Trump's ire by refusing to declare he won't run for president in the 2024 election even if the former president stands.

Trump, who was a key contributor to DeSantis' rise from little-known politician to governor of Florida -- a key state in presidential polls -- expects loyalty.

"I think that, at this point, it will be political suicide if DeSantis comes out against Trump," said Jewett.

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US Republican party in the long shadow of Donald Trump at key conference - Yahoo News

Utah has a very different political culture here. Navigating that can be difficult, Carson Jorgensen, chair of the states Republican Party, said. The culture is very much influenced by their friends and neighbors and faith, and we are very tight knit communities.

The two leading Republican challengers to Lee former state legislator Becky Edwards and business and community leader Ally Isom both campaign on the premise that Utahns are collectively disgruntled with Lee and ready for fresh leadership.

But its his relationship with Trump thats at the heart of their critiques. Lee started out as a skeptic who protested Trumps nomination at the 2016 National Republican Convention. A month before Election Day, Lee called on Trump to drop out of the race, citing the Access Hollywood tape as the tipping point.

Then Lee took a full MAGA turn after Trump was elected. By the subsequent midterms, Lee was one of Trumps staunchest allies in the Senate.

Trump even interviewed Lee in 2018 as a candidate to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat and the senator said he wouldnt say no should an invitation come. The following spring, Lee pledged his allegiance to Trumps reelection bid.

Trumps criticized Mike, and Mikes criticized Trump, Jorgensen, the states GOP chair, said. But at the end of the day, Mike was one of his staunchest allies.

When Lee pivoted to Trumps corner, many Utah Republicans held their noses at what seemed to be a purely political shift. In the predominantly Latter-day Saint state, Trump had never been as popular as in other conservative-minded states. Trumps brashness, promiscuity and rhetoric on immigration tarnished him in the eyes of many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2016, Trump fared worse in Utah than any other red state.

While Utahns warmed up considerably toward Trump after his election, it was not enough to overcome one of Lees Trump-related transgressions his seeming use of his Latter-day Saint faith as a justification for his support.

It occurred at an October 2020 Trump rally in Arizona, where Lee was in attendance, but didnt expect to speak. When Trump invited him onstage, Lee offered an impromptu pitch to two of Trumps most unconvinced voting blocs, Hispanics and Latter-day Saints.

He first addressed his comments to his hermanos hispanohablantes, dusting off his rusty Spanish from a two-year Latter-day Saint mission in Texas. Viva Donald Trump! he continued. He then turned his attention to his co-congregants.

To my Mormon friends, my Latter-day Saint friends, think of him as Captain Moroni, Lee yelled, comparing Trump to a prophet in the Book of Mormon. He continued by paraphrasing the religions scripture, but in reference to Trump: He seeks not power, but to pull it down. He seeks not the praise of the world or the fake news, but he seeks the well-being and the peace of the American people.

To many Latter-day Saints, it was an unforgivable blunder. Previously, Lee had undertaken a weekslong slugfest against a church-owned news organization and quoted a Latter-day Saint hymn to justify his opposition to a Covid-19 relief bill.

But comparing Trump the same man who privately mocked Latter-day Saint underwear to a holy prophet was a step too far. Between January 2021 and January 2022, Lees support among Latter-day Saints dropped by eight percentage points, according to Deseret News/Hinckley Institute polls.

You dont take him before the Senate Ethics Committee because he invoked Captain Moroni, right? one Utah political consultant explained. It doesnt rise to that level of inappropriate. But it just leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth.

Lees relationship with Trump isnt the sole issue in the primary. Many Utahns remain averse to the MAGA wing of the Republican Party in general. Lees challengers have also targeted his so-called obstructionism. Those in Lees inner circle praise his willingness to be a human barricade against bad legislation, but his opponents frame it as an unwillingness to govern.

Lee was the only senator to vote against bills speeding up ALS insurance benefits and creating museums for Latinos and women. Most recently, Lee was the lone senator to oppose the formation of a national historic site at the location of a Japanese internment camp in Colorado. Lees communications director told the Associated Press that the senators objection was not of the site itself, but of any increase of federally owned lands.

Former state legislator Becky Edwards is one of the leading Republican challengers to Sen. Mike Lee.|Rick Bowmer/AP Photo

Utahns want a more productive, proactive and inclusive type of Republican, and a more productive, proactive, inclusive type of conservative, said Edwards, a conservative who voted for Biden in 2020, when he won over a higher share of Utah voters than any Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Isom, too, has a fraught relationship with her party. A former spokesperson for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she left the GOP in 2016, though she says shes always identified as a classic conservative and has since returned to the party. Political observers in Utah note that Isom is positioning herself as equally conservative, if not more so, than Lee only without the MAGA support.

Both candidates have used their own distance from the establishment GOP to hammer what they see as Lees blind allegiance to party and to the former president.

When the Republican National Convention convened in Salt Lake City this month and deemed the Jan. 6 insurrection as legitimate political discourse, Edwards joined Utah Sen. Mitt Romney in quickly denouncing the partys statement. No such comment came from Lee.

Senator Lees silence is deafening, isnt it? Isom said.

Earlier this month, Isom called on Lee to drop out of the race and honor his commitment to serve only two terms. Twelve years ago, Lee won incumbent Sen. Bob Bennetts seat in part by campaigning on Bennetts broken promise to serve only two terms. Lee has supported Senate legislation that would limit officeholders to 12 years of service, promising he would comply should the legislation pass.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people in elected office, its circumstantial ethics, former Utah governor Gary Herbert said. Thats a legitimate criticism of Lee. Men shouldnt be commanded in all things. You should do things that are right and proper, regardless of if its a rule or not.

Herbert who has a close relationship with all three GOP candidates, including Isom, his former deputy chief of staff has yet to make an endorsement.

Then-Utah Gov. Gary Herbert speaks with Ally Isom, his then-deputy chief of staff, in 2012.|Jim Urquhart/AP Photo

Knocking off Lee wont be easy. Early polls show the senator with a massive lead over both GOP challengers, though his approval rating among Utah voters dropped to 42 percent this month.

Lees relationship with the former president is somewhat complicated Lee cosponsored the First Step Act, perhaps the Trump administrations chief legislative achievement, but refused to challenge the results of the 2020 election, drawing Trumps ire. Trump and Lee did not speak for over a month after the Jan. 6 insurrection, add Lee called it a very, very bad thing that happened. Weeks later, Lee participated in a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.

Trump has yet to endorse a candidate in the Utah Senate race.

The Lee campaign declined an interview for this story.

The longer both Republican challengers stay in the race, though, the greater risk they run of slashing whatever hope they have to defeat Lee. In interviews, both Isom and Edwards downplayed their concern of splitting the anti-Lee vote, but multiple sources close to the campaigns confirmed that feelers have been put out to foster a conversation about one of the candidates dropping out.

Similar conversations were had prior to either candidate entering the race. Sharlee Mullins Glenn, founder of the nonprofit group Mormon Women for Ethical Government, spoke to both Isom and Edwards about pursuing other races before the two launched their respective Senate campaigns, sources say. (Glenn was not speaking for the nonpartisan organization.)

It doesnt appear that theyre taking votes away from Sen. Lee, said Jason Perry, director of the University of Utahs Hinckley Institute of Politics, which has surveyed Lees approval rating. Theyre mostly taking votes away from each other.

The Utah GOP employs a dual-path nominating system, in which prospective candidates can earn their spot on the primary ballot by either the traditional convention route or by gathering signatures. Lee rode the tea party wave in 2010 to oust the incumbent Bennett in the convention Bennett finished in third place among delegates, and the top two candidates, Lee included, moved onto the primary.

Ben McAdams, perhaps the states most prominent Democrat, considered running, but said it became clear that no Democrat would win a statewide race in Utah.|Rick Bowmer, File/AP Photo

For the general election, a host of unlikely operators is working to give him a tougher fight than in his two previous reelection campaigns, where he won easily. Ben McAdams, a former Salt Lake County-based Democratic congressman who was defeated in 2020, has spent the last several months rallying voters behind a candidate outside of his party.

Evan McMullin, the 2016 independent presidential candidate, announced last year that hes entering the Senate race as an independent, and McAdams has been outspoken in his support for the challenger. Lee ironically voted for McMullin in 2016, in protest of Trump.

McAdams, perhaps the states most prominent Democrat, considered running, but said it became clear that no Democrat would win a statewide race in Utah.

I have good favorability ratings in the state of Utah, McAdams said. I have high name ID. And I looked closely at the race and I can tell you, it is not a race that a Democrat is going to win.

For the past several weeks, McAdams has invited delegates for the states upcoming Democratic nominating convention into his home, in 20-person cohorts, to give them the McMullin sales pitch. So far, hes spoken to over 100, and the vast majority about 95 percent, he says are convinced to not put forward a Democratic candidate in this race and instead support McMullin.

Its an approach that has incensed Kael Weston, the lead Democrat running, who told the Deseret News it is fundamentally disenfranchising.

Lee certainly is vulnerable, one political consultant said. We dont know just exactly how vulnerable because hes never been tested before. We dont know how hell react to that pressure.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated Sharlee Mullins Glenns status with the nonprofit group Mormon Women for Ethical Government. She did not leave the group in 2019.

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Hard pivot toward Trump proves costly for red-state ally - POLITICO