In an exclusive interview with Fox News, former President Donald Trump pledged that he would be very involved in the 2022 midterm election, but after his lackluster involvement in the Virginia elections, it's unclear what they will actually look like.
"We did Hialeah, the mayor, a terrific guy," Trump said, referring to Mayor-elect Esteban 'Steve' Bovo in Hialeah, FL. The endorsement came after Bovo was already the leading candidate to win and it all contained was a statement with a ringing endorsement. It's unclear if there was any money given from Trump's super PAC.
"A congressional seat in Ohio, where he had a tough primary and won by a lot after my endorsement," Trump said of Mike Cary in the Ohio 15th Congressional District. Trump dumped tons of money into the primary race in that election, doing robocalls and more.
But in the general election, a Republican winning isn't a huge lift, as the district has been held by a Republican for all but two years out of the past 55 years.
"We had Youngkin, and we had another one that was a very good victory," Trump said, referring to gubernatorial Glenn Youngkin. But even in that race, Trump's involvement was minimal. In fact, Trump told his supporters not to vote for any Republicans if they weren't going to fix the "election fraud" issues that he falsely claimed led to his loss in 2020.
The Wall Street Journal wrote about the way that the campaign kept Trump at "arm's length." Even after his win, Trump and his own supporters have been claiming that there was "voter fraud" in the win.
So, it's unclear how much Trump actually intends to help and what all that entails. Thus far, it seems to be handing out endorsements at the last minute or in the case of one Arizona race, Trump endorsed a slate of Republicans running for the same office.
Trump also doesn't like to travel much to the western United States because he prefers to sleep in his own bed, a 2016 Reuters report revealed.
Trump went on to brag about helping win a "borough president" position in Staten Island. They don't vote with the city council, but they give recommendations to the New York City Mayor, who is a Democrat and not likely to listen to a Trump supporter.
The former president went on to say that he won't help anyone he doesn't like but didn't threaten to go after Republicans he doesn't like, which he's threatened to do in the past. For example, Trump promised he would work to defeat Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, but the senator was able to win a write-in campaign for her seat in the previous election. Trump also isn't likely to travel to the extensive trip to Alaska to host a rally.
"I'll not only be supportive," Trump claimed. "I'll be very non-supportive of some people. So, you'll see that there, and you'll see that in other states too."
He noted: "I'll stay busy for good people. Not for bad people."
