Lingering Trump support tested as his hand-picked candidate falls in North Carolina primary race

Donald Trump often brags that his "total and complete endorsement" of a political candidate guarantees that candidate a win. That's not true, of course, and that is on full display in the North Carolina Republican Senate primary race.

Shortly after incumbent Sen. Richard Burr announced that he would not seek re-election the former president surprisingly endorsed current Rep. Ted Budd. The congressman, however, has generated little excitement, lags in the fundraising department and has fallen in recent polling, according to a report in Politico.

The front-runner in the race is former Gov. Pat McCrory. Complicating the picture is the presence of former Rep. Mark Walker in the primary, who is competing with Budd for the most conservative, pro-Trump voters in the Tar Heel state. Based on his comments at last weekend's Republican National Committee donor dinner in New Orleans, wanna-be kingmaker Trump sounds a bit concerned about Budd's prospects.

In audio of his remarks obtained by Politico, Trump said, “How are we doing? How’s Ted Budd doing? OK?” Trump asked North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley from the stage. “All right, we gotta get Walker out of that race. Get him out of the race, Michael, right?”

A February poll by Remington Research Group conducted for Walker’s campaign, Politico reports, shows Budd falling 5 points since a January survey by the firm. Remington’s most recent poll put McCrory at 35 percent, Budd at 24 percent, Walker at 17 percent. North Carolina's primary takes place May 17.