This GOP senator is facing intense MAGA pressure to endorse Trump

17 August 2023

As Donald Trump faces four criminal indictments, some Republicans are holding off on making an endorsement in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. But the former president's most ardent loyalists are pressuring Republicans to endorse him. Far-right conspiracy theorist and 2022 Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake has even gone so far as to say that her party should cancel its presidential primary altogether and nominate Trump immediately.

The Daily Beast cites Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama) as an example of a Republican who is facing intense pressure from MAGA Republicans to endorse Trump. Britt was appointed to the Republican National Committee Advisory Council's board by RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, and sources told the Beast that Britt was asked to remain neutral in the 2024 primary.

Regardless, the Beast's Zachary Petrizzo reports, in an article published on August 17, that Trump loyalists like Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk are turning up the heat on Britt and pressuring her to endorse the former president right away. And Breitbart News has been hammering Britt about the matter as well.

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On August 4, Kirk tweeted, "There's no legitimate excuse for Sen. Katie Britt to be the only federal elected official from Alabama not endorsing Donald Trump, especially when he went to bat for her in the primary and especially when Trump, the rule of law, and our entire country are under assault."

Some Twitter users have fact-checked Kirk, noting that in 2022, Trump initially said of Britt, "She is not in any way qualified and is certainly not what our Country needs or not what Alabama wants."

According to RNC spokesman Keith Schipper, the Republican National Committee Advisory Council is now allowing board members to make a primary endorsement if they choose — a change from an earlier policy.

Schipper told the Beast, "When we launched the Republican Party Advisory Council to help us chart the best path forward to win in 2024, we asked members to remain neutral in the Republican presidential primary. Now that we're in the advanced stages of the race, all members of the Council are welcome to continue their work regardless of whether they are backing a Republican presidential candidate or not, to help us make Joe Biden a one-term president."

A frustrated RNC source, interviewed on condition of anonymity, said it is untrue that Britt's position on the RNC Advisory Council board prevents her from making a primary endorsement.

That source told the Beast, "The Britt people send us out there to defend this lie, and nobody seems to realize that we're dealing with rabid dogs at Breitbart. They don't give a s***. They're not just going to accept her off-the-record explanation, and they start demanding all kinds of statements about us preventing people from endorsing Trump and threatening to kick Trump supporters off this Council."

Trump's legal problems aren't hurting him among GOP primary voters. Polls released in mid-August found Trump leading Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the second-place candidate, by 37 percent (Fox News) or 39 percent (Quinnipiac University and The Economist/YouGov).

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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