WATCH: Republican Governor Says He Asked Trump To Stay Out Of Primaries In His State
Pete Ricketts is not running for re-election as Governor of Nebraska, but he says that he didn’t want Donald Trump to endorse a candidate in that race. He’s also opposing Trump’s endorsement in Georgia, throwing his own support behind the incumbent, who the former president hopes to see lose his seat this year.
Term limits in Nebraska prevent Ricketts from running again, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a stake in his state’s gubernatorial election, like every citizen. He’s very clear about one thing — he didn’t want Donald Trump to put his thumb on the scale for any candidate in the primary.
Ricketts says he asked Trump to stay out of the Nebraska Republican gubernatorial primary but Trump went ahead and endorsed a candidate who went on to lose anyway pic.twitter.com/hUytSvWJ0a
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 15, 2022
Ricketts: I try to focus on the things I can control, and what [former] President Trump does is not one of those things. As co-chair of the Republican Governors Association, we’ve been very clear that we support our incumbents. [Georgia Governor] Brian Kemp is a great incumbent. He’s done a fantastic job in Georgia.
CNN: Is it true that you asked Trump to stay out of the primary in your home state of Nebraska, and he refused?
Ricketts: Well, at the time he didn’t refuse. He said he’d get back to me later. But yes, I did call him last summer and ask him to stay out of the primary race, but I guess that’s a great example of things you can control and things you can’t control.
As reported by NPR, Trump’s endorsement in Nebraska didn’t pan out. He endorsed Charles Herbster, who is facing allegations of sexual assault in the form of unwanted groping or kissing from multiple women, while Ricketts endorsed Jim Pillen, who won the primary and will face Democrat Carol Blood in the general election in November.
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