President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would have backed the Republican primary opponent of Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) if he had been given “proper information” on both candidates.
Feenstra narrowly lost the GOP primary for Iowa governor to political newcomer Zach Lahn earlier this month despite outspending Lahn by nearly $1 million and having Trump’s support.
When asked if he regretted endorsing Feenstra four days before the June 2 primary election, Trump suggested he did not know enough about Lahn at the time to make an informed decision and noted the first-time candidate was much more supportive of his agenda than the House Republican.
“The man running against [Feenstra] was all Trump,” he said in the Oval Office. “Had I been given the proper information, which I don’t think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person or not endorsed at all, but I would have endorsed the other person.”
“The other person was much more Trump, as you know, than Randy,” he added.
Trump was extremely upset that his consultants pressured him to give Feenstra a last-minute endorsement, with a White House source telling Politico’s Playbook that the president is “really angry about this Iowa endorsement.”
Feenstra was one of the most notable Trump-endorsed candidates to fail in the Republican primaries this year. Trump has been largely successful in ousting incumbents, such as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), with his own picks.
A longtime GOP operative, Lahn has worked for Republican campaigns in Montana and Colorado before running for public office. While he was once unknown, Lahn began picking up endorsements from Turning Point Action and the Make America Healthy Again PAC as he proceeded in the gubernatorial race.
RANDY FEENSTRA LOSS DELIVERS BLOW TO TRUMP-ENDORSED CANDIDATE SUCCESS RATE
The victorious primary candidate used his connection to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement to his advantage, priding himself on his opposition to corporate agriculture and pesticides.
Lahn will now face Iowa Auditor Rob Sand, the sole Iowa Democrat to hold statewide office, for the governor’s mansion in November. Both entered the race after Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) decided not to seek reelection.