Trump derided for claiming he was 'not involved' with losing candidate

Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Cheney Orr

Hours after the Republican Party suffered an upset defeat in a special election in a deep-red district in Texas, President Donald Trump falsely claimed he had nothing to do with the race.

While speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Sunday, Trump was asked what he made of the GOP losing a Texas state senate election in a district that he carried by 17 percentage points in 2024.

“I’m not involved in that, that’s a local Texas race,” Trump replied.

In fact, Trump endorsed losing Republican candidate Leigh Wambsganss on three separate occasions in just the last three days, including a Saturday post on Truth Social where he called her “a phenomenal Candidate” and “an incredible supporter of our Movement to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

Trump’s attempt to distance himself from someone whom he enthusiastically endorsed just one day ago elicited instant ridicule from many of his critics on social media.

“Two days ago, the president used his social media platform to endorse this ‘phenomenal candidate’ and to urge ‘all America First Patriots’ in the district to get out and vote for her,” remarked Princeton historian Kevin Kruse. “Today, he says he doesn’t know anything about it and had nothing to do with it. He’s lying or demented or both.”

Zak Williams, a political consultant at Zenith Strategies and a native Texan, wrote that Trump was “intimately involved” in the campaign, noting that Republicans outspent Democrats in the race by a margin of 10 to 1.

Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman who left the GOP over his disgust with Trump, expressed astonishment at the president’s blatant dishonesty.

“He’s such a horrible person,” wrote Walsh. “And such a dishonest person. Yes, he was involved in that race. He endorsed the losing candidate, and she lost 100% because of him. She lost 100% because of this past year of his chaos, his cruelty, and his incompetence. Her loss was a total rejection of him.”

Journalist James Barragán of TX Capital Tonight, argued that the Wambsganss loss calls into question just how effective Trump’s endorsements will be in moving voters in the 2026 midterm elections.

“President Trump says he’s ‘not involved’ in SD 9 race where his endorsed candidate (who he boosted multiple times in the runup) lost a +17 Trump district,” wrote Barragán. “He’s either not being truthful or it makes you question how much stock people should put into his social media endorsements.”

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