Trump gloats as his chosen candidate takes lead in North Carolina primary race

Donald Trump's chosen candidate in North Carolina's Republican Senate primary has finally moved into the lead.

The race is seen as a major test of the former president's political clout, and Trump seemed to bask in the poll numbers showing Rep. Ted Budd with a commanding lead in the state's May 17 primary when he visited North Carolina over the weekend, reported Politico.

“I’m very proud of that man,” Trump said at Saturday's rally. “Not an easy thing to do, what he’s doing, and he did it so well, and we've got to get out there to vote. Make sure you’re voting.”

Trump cited an unspecified poll showing Budd with a 17-point lead, which represents a big turnaround from polls in late February showing him 11 points behind former Gov. Pat McCrory -- and comes after the conservative super PAC Club for Growth dumped $15 million into his campaign and evangelical Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson gave his endorsement.

“Our party needs to come together,” said Robinson, who's one of the state's most popular Republicans. “We need to join together and make sure that we can send a strong, principled conservative candidate to Washington — that we can push him through this primary and blast him past his Democratic opponent in the general election.”

Robinson backed Budd after praising another GOP hopeful, former congressman Mark Walker, who said he has been offered unspecified deals to drop out of the race and endorse Budd -- but he wouldn't say who made the offers.

“I didn’t play this game in D.C. and I won’t do it now, thus, declining their offer,” Walker said.

McCrory admitted that Club for Growth's investment in Budd had hurt his own campaign, but he accused the conservative super PAC of "trying to buy a Senate seat," but Trump praised the group's president David McIntosh as a "very powerful man."

“We are undefeated when we work together,” Trump said.