Donald Trump endorsed Geoff Diehl for governor of Massachusetts

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Politics “Baker is certainly not an American First or Make America Great Again kind of person.” Geoff Diehl spoke to the media as a campaign stalled at Fitchburg in 2018. Craig F. Walker / The Boston Globe

Former president Donald Trump is backing Republican candidate Geoff Diehl in the 2022 race to become governor of Massachusetts.

He also takes on current Republican governor Charlie Baker.

In a statement Tuesday night announcing his endorsement of Diehl, Trump criticized Baker on everything from energy prices in Massachusetts to the MBTA and compared the GOP governor’s moderate view on climate change to Rep. . Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Calling Baker a “just name Republican,” the twice-impeached former president said the governor “did nothing for the Republican Party and drove energy costs in Massachusetts, so far, the highest in Country. “

“Baker was bad at crime, disrespected our police, did nothing for our Veterans, botched the launch of the Vaccine, led the collapse of the MBTA, and saw that crime went to record levels,” he said. ongoing statement.

(Massachusetts has one of the highest vaccination rates in the nation, despite an early hiccup in rollout. Also, according to FBI data, the state’s violent crime rate has been steadily declining since 2010 in its lowest level in decades.)

“His‘ green climate ’perspective is fresh out of the AOC playbook,” Trump added of Baker. “He really abandoned the principles of the Republican Party, never cut taxes and undermined our agenda. Baker is certainly not an American First or Make America Big Again kind of person.”

Trump said Diehl, “on the other hand, is a true patriot, a believer in low energy costs and… strong in Crime, Election Integrity, our under siege on the South Border, loves our Military, and there is a huge focus on the care of our Vet. “

“Geoff Diehl will be an outstanding Governor for the state of Massachusetts, and it is my honor to give him my Complete and Total Endorsement!” He added.

In response to Trump’s statement, Baker told reporters Wednesday that he was “not surprised for a whole bunch of reasons,” Politico said.

Governor Charlie Baker on Trump’s endorsement of Geoff Diehl: In some respects I’m not surprised, on a whole bunch of reasons.

Trump defeated the Bakers who completely botched the vax rollout. Guv said I am proud of the fact that MA has the highest vax rate of any major state #mapoli pic.twitter.com/gC9GXlQkIk

– Lisa Kashinsky (@lisakashinsky) October 6, 2021

Baker added that he is “proud of the fact” that Massachusetts has the highest vaccination rate of any large state and said he remains committed to leading the Massachusetts pandemic show.

Trump’s statement on Tuesday was not the first time he had chosen Baker; last fall, the former president also responded to the Massachusetts governor’s criticism of his questionable voting claims by calling Baker a “RINO” on Twitter (he was eventually removed from the social media platform) .

Diehl, who previously told Politico that “he would like to leave national politics in this race” when asked about Trump, welcomed the endorsement. The former Massachusetts state representative, chairman of Trump’s 2016 state campaign, and candidate for the 2018 Senate pushed for the endorsement Tuesday night on Twitter.

“As President, I want people to feel that the government is not working against them and they can enjoy the individual freedoms established in our state and country,” the Whitman Republican told The Boston Globe in a statement.

Trump’s support will also come a day after Diehl claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election “slipped through,” suggesting allegations the former president used to oust supporters before the violent raid on Jan. 6 of the Capitol Building. According to the Globe, Diehl said he also had a recent phone call with Trump promising to follow the former president’s lead.

For his part, Baker has not yet announced whether he will run for a third term as governor. However, he reported his biggest fundraising month since the 2018 collapse this past September.

There are already three Democratic candidates running: former state senator Ben Downing, Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen, and state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz.

It’s unclear how useful Trump’s endorsement of Diehl is – or for the Republican cause – in deep blue Massachusetts, where he won just 32 percent of the vote in 2020. It could boost Diehl to a major Republicans against Baker, who fought with the conservative faction of the state’s GOP party leadership, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic (ironically, polls repeatedly showed Baker-a consistent one to the most popular governor in the country – to be more popular with Democrats than Republicans in Massachusetts).

At the same time, some Republicans are warning that the challenge to Baker in the primary could pay the price for the party in the general gubernatorial election. As Cook Political Report editor Jessica Taylor tweeted Tuesday, “a win over Diehl will move the spot on this Solid R to Solid D.”

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