President Trump was “embarrassed and pissed” following the primary loss of the Republican Senate candidate he endorsed for Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ old Senate seat, according to unnamed “person familiar with his mindset,” CNN reported Wednesday.
Trump had endorsed the losing primary candidate, Luther Strange, partly at the request of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the White House political staff, CNN reported, but also partly because he felt he owed Strange for his loyalty while serving in an interim capacity as Alabama’s junior senator.
An unnamed senior White House official told CNN of Trump’s decision to endorse Strange that the President “knew it was a mistake but one he was willing to make because Luther was loyal.”
Multiple sources, according to CNN, said Trump was “furious with McConnell, and feels outdone by his former aide Bannon.”
Steve Bannon, the former White House chief political strategist, and Sebastain Gorka, the former White House counterterrorism adviser, both spoke on behalf of the victorious Republican, the far-right former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, at rallies before Tuesday’s vote. Even the current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson endorsed Moore.
A super PAC affiliated with McConnell spent millions in vain trying to defeat Moore. And Trump spoke at a rally in Alabama in support of Strange.
After the primary vote, Trump deleted tweets supportive of the losing candidate, replacing them with moderate praise for the chosen Republican.
Congratulations to Roy Moore on his Republican Primary win in Alabama. Luther Strange started way back & ran a good race. Roy, WIN in Dec!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
Spoke to Roy Moore of Alabama last night for the first time. Sounds like a really great guy who ran a fantastic race. He will help to #MAGA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 27, 2017
