Trump not making gov endorsement yet, but says ‘maybe’ Bailey best vs Pritzker

Former President Donald Trump, left, speaks at a campaign rally in Greensburg, Pa., last month; State Sen. Darren Bailey, right, at a news conference in Chicago last month.

Gene J. Puskar/AP-file; Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times file

Time will tell whether former President Donald Trump will actually endorse downstate state senator Darren Bailey in the six-way Republican primary race for governor.

But the former president apparently thinks Bailey is “doing a good job,” according to an interview with The Center Square’s Greg Bishop ahead of a planned “Save America” rally on Saturday in central Illinois.

Bailey, R-Xenia, has campaigned strongly on his Trump loyalty — but he hasn’t received an endorsement yet. The downstate farmer met with Trump last year and attended a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Mary Miller in April in which he snapped a photo with the former president. That photo was blasted on Bailey’s Facebook page — and later was used in ads paid for by the Democratic Governors’ Association, spots that arguably boosted Bailey’s campaign.

Bishop, associate editor for the conservative online political news outlet, asked Trump which Republican poses the greatest challenge to Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

State Sen. Darren Bailey, right, poses with his wife, Cindy, left, and former President Donald Trump, center, in a photo posted on Darren Bailey’s Facebook page in May.

From Facebook

“Well, it would look like Bailey,” the former president said. “I haven’t made an endorsement, but he’s doing a good job. A lot of people are liking him. And I think that, you know, he would potentially have a shot.

“Pritzker has been a terrible, terrible governor. He has done such a bad job, and with the lock-downs, and with everything else that you would know better than anybody. But I think maybe Bailey would be the one.”

Trump said he didn’t know about Bailey’s poll numbers, despite a Sun-Times/WBEZ poll conducted on June 7 and 8 that showed the southern Illinois Republican up by double digits over Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin and four other GOP candidates. Another poll released by Trafalgar Group on June 15 also had Bailey up by double digits.

But Trump did acknowledge the difficulty in beating a Democrat in the governor’s race in Illinois.

“He seems to be formidable and …read more

Source:: Chicago Sun Times

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