A screenshot circulating among Republicans online about President Donald Trump possibly endorsing a candidate is making waves in Kentucky’s Republican U.S. Senate primary.
None of the GOP candidates has received the hoped-for public endorsement from Trump so far.
But a web page that candidate and Lexington businessman Nate Morris’ campaign says was posted in error and quickly taken down seems to have engaged in a bit of wishful thinking. “Nate Morris is Trump-endorsed,” it said.
Rival Andy Barr, U.S. congressman, quickly seized on the claim. “Everything about Nate and his campaign is fake,” the congressman from Lexington tweeted.
Laura Loomer, a right-wing activist who is close to Trump and has more than 1.7 million followers on X, also took Morris to task. “President Trump has not endorsed a candidate in the Kentucky US Senate race, and this is incredibly deceptive,” Loomer said.
Even before he officially entered the race earlier this year, Loomer posted opposition research against Morris, who announced his candidacy on the podcast hosted by the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
The screenshot making the rounds online shows part of a Morris campaign WinRed page, the fundraising platform Republican candidates often use to collect donations. The image partially shows a webpage seeking donations to Morris. The copy includes the “Trump-endorsed” reference.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Morris’ campaign said the webpage was posted by mistake and quickly removed.
“A copywriter with a digital vendor of ours erroneously added language to a single WinRed page,” said spokesperson Conor McGuinness. “The language was not approved by any member of our campaign. It was up for 23 minutes before we caught and deleted it.”
The first to share the screenshot on X Wednesday evening was Nick Sandmann, a Republican operative who has endorsed Barr. Sandmann, a former Covington Catholic High School student, gained national attention after a 2019 video of an interaction between him and a Native American man in Washington, D.C., went viral. Barr, in turn, boosted Sandman’s post.
Daniel Cameron, another GOP candidate in the race and former Kentucky attorney general, shared Loomer’s post and touted his previous endorsements from the president. Trump endorsed Cameron in his attorney general race and again for the 2023 governor election. Cameron later lost to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who was seeking reelection.
“I’ve been honored to receive it twice, and I would never lie about it,” Cameron said before criticizing Morris.
Barr’s campaign issued a statement Thursday afternoon criticizing the explanation offered by the Morris campaign and saying Morris has a pattern of blaming others instead of taking responsibility for his actions. It cited as examples his explanations for donating to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s 2024 primary campaign against Trump and for his company’s support of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“When is Nate Morris going to become a man and take responsibility for HIS ACTIONS,” the Barr campaign said.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
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Written by McKenna Horsley. Cross-posted from the Kentucky Lantern.
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