Trump endorses Jerry Moran — 12 days after vote to acquit him on incitement charge
Twelve days after Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran acquitted former President Donald Trump for incitement of insurrection, he received Trump’s endorsement for re-election.
Trump made the announcement Thursday evening. Moran will run for a third Senate term in 2022 in a state that went for Trump by double digits in two elections.
“Senator Jerry Moran is doing a terrific job for the wonderful people of Kansas. Strong on Military, Vets, the Border, and our Second Amendment, Jerry has my Complete and Total Endorsement for his re-election in 2022!” Trump said in a statement released by his new Save America PAC.
The endorsement comes after speculation that Moran could be vulnerable to a Trump-backed primary challenge. The Clay County Republican Party censured him earlier this month for upholding President Joe Biden’s victory.
Moran spoke with Trump by phone Thursday ahead of the announcement, the senator’s spokesman confirmed.
“Sen. Moran is a consistent conservative who has worked hard with President Trump to deliver on many issues for Kansans,” Moran’s campaign said in a statement. “The endorsement stems from the trust they built during his presidency and the confidence President Trump has in Sen. Moran to continue to put Kansas and America first.”
Trump’s early support likely forecloses the possibility of an insurgent candidate challenging Moran from the right.
“That’s game over for anyone who wanted to challenge Jerry Moran,” said state Sen. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican who served as a regional field director for Trump’s 2020 campaign.
But coming less than two weeks after the impeachment trial, the endorsement also underscores the role Trump’s continued influence over the party played in his acquittal.
One of Trump’s attorneys, Bruce Castor, made a reference during the trial to the fact that “nobody in this chamber is anxious to have a primary challenge,” a remark that served a reminder of the potential consequences for votes to convict.
When Moran voted to acquit Trump, he pointed to concerns about the precedent that convicting a former president would set. He did not directly defend Trump’s behavior.
Moran said Trump “was wrong to continue to spread allegations of widespread fraud and not immediately discourage the reprehensible and unpatriotic behavior” of the rioters who ransacked the Capitol.
Moran is the first senator to win Trump’s endorsement since his acquittal and the announcement comes just days before the former president’s first major public appearance since leaving office, his Sunday address to the American Conservative Union’s CPAC conference in Orlando.
The main organizer of the CPAC event, Wichita native Matt Schlapp, was seen as a potential primary challenger to Moran. Schlapp is a longtime conservative operative who maintains deep political connections in Kansas. His wife, Mercedes Schlapp, worked for Trump in the White House and on his campaign.
The couple are set to headline a breakfast for the Kansans For Life PAC at the Kansas Republican Party convention in April, a major platform in front of some of the state’s most influential conservative activists.
Matt Schlapp, who owns a Virginia-based lobbying business, was a one of the leading voices spreading baseless claims of widespread voter fraud after the election. He mocked Moran on Twitter when he became the first Republican from the Kansas City area to recognize Biden’s status as president-elect in November.
Schlapp did not respond to a text message asking for his reaction to Trump’s endorsement of Moran. Schlapp considered, but did not pursue a run for Senate in Kansas in 2020.
Kansas GOP chairman Mike Kuckelman said in a statement that the party is “always better served with a united front. President Trump and Senator Moran are strong fighters for the unborn, our veterans, and all Kansas and I am happy to see them come together as we work to keep Kansas red in 2022.”
Kuckelman is running for a second term as party chair on a slate of candidates that includes Schlapp’s mother, former Wichita City Council member Susan Schlapp.
Moran is not scheduled to be at CPAC, but will be in Florida this weekend for a fundraiser in Miami Beach with two other establishment Republicans up for election in 2022: Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.
Trump publicly urged South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to launch a primary against Thune after the senator voiced opposition to Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.
The fundraising retreat at the St. Regis Bal Harbour with Blunt and Thune is in support of Moran’s campaign. It will last from Friday through Sunday and attendees are asked to make a suggested contribution of $2,000, according to an invitation.
The hotel is a little more than an hour’s drive north of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, where multiple GOP officials have visited him since he left office.
Moran was not particularly close with Trump during his presidency, which makes the early endorsement somewhat surprising.
He voted with Trump 81 % of the time compared to fellow Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who supported Trump 98% of the time. Moran cast some high-profile votes against Trump, including opposition to his decision to his steer money from military construction projects toward his border wall.
The endorsement comes just days after Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, talked with Trump about the 2022 cycle. Trump is expected to roll out additional Senate endorsements in the near future.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 25, 2021 at 7:54 PM.
