All six Michigan Republicans serving in the U.S. House endorsed Donald Trump for another term as president on Tuesday, strengthening the former president’s grip on Republican politics in the battleground state.
Trump’s sweep of Michigan’s GOP congressional delegation comes as the twice-impeached former president seeks to capture the Republican nomination for the White House despite the challenges of a crowded GOP primary field and hesitation from some lawmakers to state level to publicly support his third presidential bid as Trump. is fighting a slew of criminal charges.
The Trump campaign announced Tuesday that its “Michigan 2024 Federal Leadership Team” would include U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, Bill Huizenga, R-Holland, John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, Lisa McClain, R. -Bruce Township and John James, R-Shelby Township. The Detroit News independently confirmed the endorsements with all but Moolenaar’s office on Tuesday.
Democrats hold the rest of Michigan’s seven seats in the US House and two in the US Senate.
“President (Joe) Biden has wrecked our economy, eroded our position as the sole world power, and opened our borders,” James said in Trump’s campaign announcement. “Biden’s policies have been particularly harmful to the middle class in Michigan. “Under President Trump, on the other hand, inflation was 2%, the American family was strengthened by the child tax credit and other pro-family policies, and our communities were more. for sure. In 2024, we must give hope to Americans who feel their government is failing them.”
James’ endorsement of Trump’s third bid for the White House came less than seven months after he did as it is said Trump was “unable to lead” in December after the former president suggested he would support “ending” the US Constitution.
But James said Tuesday that the policies of the Biden administration — and his confidence that Trump would better support policies to meet the needs of his district — have changed his mind.
“It’s the fact that we’re six months worse under the Biden administration. These policies are taking the country in the wrong direction,” James said in an interview with The Detroit News. “Being here in Washington and seeing how things work, the administration is unable to answer the most basic questions of elected members of Congress about both foreign and domestic policy.”
The first GOP presidential primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire early next year are still months away, and several GOP candidates are still hoping to challenge Trump for the party’s nomination, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis .
James said the early approval allows him to get politics out of the way.
“I was sent here to Washington to make life better for the people of the 10th Congressional District,” James told The News. “Having more time to focus on pragmatic policy rather than politics I think will benefit the district.”
James is expected to face a re-election contest next fall in his 10th district that includes southern Macomb and Rochester counties and Rochester Hills in Oakland County. Trump visited Oakland County on June 25. James spoke at the event, but did not formally endorse Trump at the time.
In response, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled James a “rubber stamp” for Trump’s agenda.
“John James’ endorsement of the twice-impeached former president makes it clear that he is just an extreme MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republican who is unfit for office and would rather appease his political base than make life better of everyday Michigan citizens,” said Courtney Rice. , DCCC spokesperson.
DeSantis finds support in Lansing
Trump faces a federal indictment over allegations of mishandling classified documents and an ongoing investigation into his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. In New York, the Manhattan district attorney has charged Trump with a series of financial crimes stemming from hush money payments made to allegedly bury revelations of an extramarital sexual encounter with a porn star before the 2016 election.
In June, The Detroit News polled the 72 Republicans serving in the Michigan state Legislature, and found that only a few had publicly endorsed Trump’s campaign for another term as president.
While 25 Republican Michigan lawmakers had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, only three lawmakers confirmed they supported Trump, according to The News’ analysis of interviews and ads covering the positions of 61 of 72 GOP lawmakers.
State Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters in the Michigan House, tweeted Tuesday that more endorsements for the former president will be announced “shortly”.
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican since George HW Bush in 1988 to carry Michigan, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by less than 11,000 votes or less than 1 percentage point.
But in 2020, Trump lost the state to Biden by 3 percentage points or 154,000 votes. Trump maintained false and unproven claims that the fraud cost him his career.
Month:As Donald Trump prepares to return to Michigan, cracks are appearing in his GOP support
In 2022, Trump’s endorsed candidates for Michigan governor, secretary of state and attorney general lost to Democrats by 9 percentage points or more, and Democrats won control of the state legislature for the first time in 40 years .
After the election, a memo from the Michigan Republican Party said the party’s longtime donors had stayed away “in what many of them felt was sending a message to Donald Trump and his supporters.”
A Republican walks away
Former Republican state Sen. Tom Barrett of Charlotte, who just declared a U.S. House campaign in a competitive swing district in mid-Michigan, refused to endorse Trump or any other Republican presidential candidate when he asked in an interview with The News on Monday.
“I’m comfortable letting the field run its course. I think it’s healthy for the party to have a robust debate about who our nominee is going to be, and I’m looking forward to campaigning with whoever ends up being our nominee for the Republican nomination,” Barrett said.
“Joe Biden has been an absolute disaster as president, and I know that whoever we nominate as a party will be inherently better than Joe Biden has been as president.”
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