Candidates Warned Not to Fake Trump Endorsement

Politico: “Candidates up and down the ballot are portraying themselves as staunch Trump loyalists, showing off photos they’ve taken with the former president, divulging private conversations they’ve had with him and, in Lynda Blanchard’s case, brandishing Trump-signed nomination papers. But some candidates are taking it too far — and Trump and his team are aggressively letting them know it.”

“The episodes illustrate the colliding pressures confronting the former president and the Republican office-seekers desperate for his support. While candidates are calculating that they need voters to see them as Trump-approved, the former president is protective of his political brand and recognizes that his much-coveted endorsement — and the performance of the candidates who get it — is one of his primary means of maintaining relevance.”