Trump endorsed by every Michigan GOP member of Congress
All six Republicans from Michigan who serve in the U.S. House endorsed Donald Trump for another term as president on Tuesday, strengthening the former president's grip on GOP politics in the battleground state.
Trump's sweep of Michigan's Republican congressional delegation came as the twice-impeached former president looks to capture the GOP nomination for the White House despite challenges from a crowded primary field and hesitations among some state-level lawmakers to publicly support his third presidential bid as Trump fights a slew of criminal charges.
Trump's campaign on Tuesday announced his "2024 Michigan federal leadership team" would feature 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 U.S. House and both of the state's U.S. Senate seats.
"President (Joe) Biden has wrecked our economy, let our position as the sole world power slip, and opened our borders," James said in the Trump campaign announcement. "Biden’s policies have been particularly detrimental to Michigan’s middle class.
"Under President Trump on the other hand, inflation was at 2%, the American family was strengthened through the child tax credit and other pro-family policies, and our communities were more secure. In 2024, we need to give hope to Americans who feel like their government is failing them."
James' endorsement of Trump's third bid for the White House came less than seven months after he reportedly said Trump was "unfit to lead" in December after the former president suggested he would support the "termination" of the U.S. Constitution.
But James said Tuesday that Biden administration policies — and confidence that Trump would better support policies to meet his district's needs — have changed his mind.
"It's the fact that we are six months worse off 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 the elected members of Congress on both foreign and domestic policy."
There are six months to go before the first GOP presidential primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire early next year, and several GOP candidates still hope to challenge Trump for the party's nomination, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
James said the early endorsement allows him to get politics out of the way.
"I was sent here to Washington to improve the lives of the people in the 10th Congressional District," James told The News. "Having the most time to focus on pragmatic policy rather than the politics I think will accrue to the benefit of the district."
James is expected to face a competitive reelection race next fall in his 10th District that includes southern Macomb County and Rochester and Rochester Hills in Oakland County after he narrowly won a first term in 2022. Trump visited Oakland County on June 25. James spoke at the event but didn't formally endorse Trump at that time.
In response, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee labeled James a "rubber stamp" for Trump's agenda.
“John James’s endorsement of the twice-impeached former president makes clear he is just another extreme MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republican who is unfit for office and would rather appease his political base than make life better for everyday Michiganders," said Courtney Rice, spokeswoman for the DCCC.
DeSantis finds support in Lansing
Trump is facing a federal indictment over allegations he mishandled classified documents and an ongoing investigation into his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. 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 News surveyed the 72 Republicans who serve in the Michigan state Legislature, finding only a handful had publicly endorsed Trump's campaign for another term as president.
While 25 Michigan Republican lawmakers had backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president, only three legislators confirmed they were supporting Trump, according to The News' analysis of interviews and announcements that covered the positions of 61 of the 72 GOP legislators.
State Rep. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, one of Trump's most outspoken supporters in the Michigan House, tweeted on Tuesday that more endorsements for the former president would be unveiled "soon."
In 2016, Trump became the first Republican since George H.W. Bush in 1988 to carry Michigan, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton by fewer 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 fraud cost him the race.
More:As Donald Trump prepares for return to Michigan, cracks appear in his GOP support
In 2022, Trump's endorsed candidates for Michigan governor, secretary of state and attorney general all 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 Michigan Republican Party memo said longtime donors to the party had remained on the sidelines "in what many of them saw as sending a message to Donald Trump and his supporters."
One Republican steers clear
GOP former state Sen. Tom Barrett of Charlotte, who just declared a U.S. House campaign in a competitive swing district in mid-Michigan, declined to endorse Trump or any other Republican presidential candidate when asked Monday in an interview with The News.
"I'm comfortable letting the field run. I think that it's healthy for the party to have a robust debate as to who our nominee will be, and I'm looking forward to campaigning with whoever ends up as 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 intrinsically better than Joe Biden has performed as president."
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