Trump says Corey Lewandowski would make a "fantastic" senator
President Trump all but endorsed his onetime campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for a potential Senate bid in New Hampshire, telling a local radio station that Lewandowski would make a "great senator" if he decides to run and win.
Lewandowski, as CBS News has reported, is seriously considering a Senate bid in his home state. Mr. Trump is heading to New Hampshire Thursday night for a political rally, and Lewandowski will join him aboard Air Force One to discuss the potential run.
"Well, first of all, I have to tell you that I think he would be fantastic, he's got great energy," Mr. Trump told "New Hampshire Today" with Jack Heath in an interview taped Wednesday. "He's terrific on television, you'e seen. He's a really good guy, I like him a lot. I like him, I like his family, I like everything about him. I think Corey is a fantastic guy."
"And I don't think he's made that decision yet," Mr. Trump continued. "I will say this, if he ran he would be a great senator. If he ran and won he'd be a great senator. He would be great for New Hampshire, he'd be great for the country. He has got a tremendous drive and that drive would be put to the people of New Hampshire's benefit and the country's benefit."
The Republican who wins the Senate primary in New Hampshire will face off against incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, who has held the seat since 2009. Mr. Trump narrowly lost New Hampshire in 2016, by fewer than 3,000 votes. Republicans hope to flip the state in 2020.
Lewandowski was fired from his job as Trump campaign manager in 2016 after he aggressively grabbed a reporter, but he has managed to remain a vocal ally of the president and adviser in the years since.
New Hampshire's Democratic Party sharply disagreed with Mr. Trump's assessment of Lewandowski.
"Corey Lewandowski is a shadow lobbyist with a nefarious client list that includes foreign interests, which is why New Hampshire Republicans and even Governor Chris Sununu have been keeping their distance," New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Josh Marcus-Blank said in a statement. "Lewandowski, with his record of violence, will make an already nasty Republican primary even worse."