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Trump statement indicates he won't endorse Brnovich for U.S. Senate

Published: Monday, April 18, 2022 - 5:17pm
Updated: Friday, June 3, 2022 - 3:19pm

Donald Trump said it was a “shame” that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich wasn’t prosecuting anyone for the former president’s false claims of voter fraud.

In a statement, Trump accused Brnovich of trying to be politically correct by “kicking the can down the road” in the attorney general’s ongoing investigation of the 2020 election. Earlier this month, Brnovich issued a 12-page interim report that claimed “serious vulnerabilities” about the election process in Maricopa County — including some accusations which have already been refuted by county election officials.

But the report offered no evidence of widespread fraud that could have impacted the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost in Arizona to Democrat Joe Biden.

For that, Trump attacked Brnovich and his “rapidly sinking” polling numbers in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate — a race that Brnovich’s critics say motivated his election investigation and interim report.

While expressing his disapproval of Brnovich, Trump teased an endorsement in that very race and indicated it likely won’t be for the attorney general.

“The good news is Arizona has some very good people running for election to the U.S. Senate,” Trump said. “I will be making an endorsement in the not too distant future!”

The statement is a blow to Brnovich’s chances of securing the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate and the right to challenge incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly in November. Brnovich wasn’t always in Trump’s good graces — the attorney general initially defended the 2020 election results. But as he mounted a campaign for the Senate, Brnovich also sought to charm Trump, who in January pressured the attorney general to speed up his election investigation.

Brnovich’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The news of a pending endorsement is a boon for the other challengers in the GOP primary: businessman Jim Lamon, Peter Thiel acolyte Blake Masters, former Arizona Adjutant General Mick McGuire, and Arizona Corporation Commissioner Justin Olson.

Politics Elections