But the former president was agitating by hearing from donors that Blanchard was hyping her connections to Trump and giving them the impression she had his backing. Trump, who was widely believed to be leaning toward Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a longtime ally who spoke at the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the deadly Capitol riot, vented to his advisers that he barely knew Blanchard. The former ambassador's allies insist she never meant to imply she had Trump’s support — but before long, Trump decided to make his endorsement of Brooks official, even though the primary was more than a year away.
With the 2022 Republican primary season beginning to take shape, candidates up and down the ballot are portraying themselves as staunch Trump loyalists, showcasing photos they've taken with the former president, divulging private conversations they’ve had with him and, in Blanchard’s case, brandishing Trump-signed nomination papers. But some candidates are taking it too far — and Trump and his team are aggressively letting them know it.
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“Lots of candidates pretend to have the support of President Trump. Most are full of shit. You will know when President Trump endorses someone,” stated former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
The episodes illustrate the colliding pressures confronting the former president and the Republican office-seekers desperate for his support. While candidates are calculating that they need voters to view them as Trump-approved, the former president is protective of his political brand and recognizes that his much-coveted endorsement — and the performance of the candidates who get it — is one of his primary means of maintaining relevance.
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The problem has gotten worse since Trump left the White House, advisers suggest. The former president’s team has long pushed back on candidates they accused of misrepresenting themselves as Trump-backed:
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Last year alone, the Trump campaign sent cease-and-desist letters to the likes of attorney general-turned-Alabama Senate candidate Jeff Sessions and even contenders for local office. But now, without a comprehensive state-by-state network of operatives and chairpersons that can patrol races, the former president’s political team has to work harder to keep candidates in line.
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The most recent flare-up came last week, when a bogus flier popped up on the internet proclaiming that Trump had endorsed businessman Hirsh Singh in New Jersey's June 8 GOP gubernatorial primary. After Trump spokesman Jason Miller became aware of the posting — which was designed to mimic Trump’s official endorsement statements — he took to Twitter to declare that it was "FAKE" and confirm that Trump “has NOT endorsed in the race.”
Singh denied in an interview that he was behind the flier and accused one of his primary rivals of planting it to embarrass him. “I don’t play sneaky games like this,” said Singh, who ended up finishing a distant third.
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