Former President Donald Trump traveled to North Carolina on Saturday to stump for U.S. Rep. Ted Budd’s Senate campaign, the start of a three-day weekend swing by the former president as he tries to exert influence in the 2022 midterms.
Trump has endorsed Budd in the competitive Republican primary for the open seat of retiring GOP Sen. Richard Burr. Trump has already endorsed Budd in the crowded primary field and Budd appeared with Trump during a rally earlier this month in neighboring Georgia.
Budd, who represents a Greensboro-area district in Congress, is one of 13 Republicans competing in the May 17 primary. Polls show Army veteran and former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker as Budd’s chief primary rival.
Before the rally in Selma, which is a town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Raleigh, Trump disparaged former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican who ran against him in the 2016 presidential primary, calling him a “disgrace.”
Fielding questions from reporters for the first time since he was last in North Carolina in June 2020, Trump declined to disparage Anthony Fauci, his administration’s top infectious disease expert who has been a target of Trump’s ire. Instead, Trump focused his fire on Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump is scheduled to appear on Sunday at a service at First Baptist Church in Dallas, North Carolina, a town near Charlotte powerhouse Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who in 2020 unseated an incumbent favored by Trump to win his seat.
Trump plans a rally in Selma on Saturday evening, where he is expected to repeat his endorsement of Budd.