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Shop NowFormer President Donald Trump has been slow to weigh in on some Republican primary races, but the who is challenging the incumbent in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District received the coveted Trump endorsement only one day after she announced that she would be running. Katie Arrington will be attempting to unseat Representative Nancy Mace. Mace previously supported Trump but disavowed him in 2021, earning his lasting enmity. Prominently backing the incumbent is Nikki Haley, a former Trump ally.
Trump goes on the offensive
A number of potential presidential candidates have attempted to ingratiate themselves with Trump since he left office, hoping to earn his endorsement if he does not run again in 2024.
We now can be pretty certain that at least one of these contenders has no chance of getting Trump’s support. Nikki Haley endorsed Nancy Mace before Trump chose to endorse her opponent.
Like Mace, the former South Carolina governor has changed her position on the Trump question a few times now, though she is still apparently hoping to stay in his good graces until 2024.
Both Mace and Haley condemned Trump after January 6; both have seemed to regret that decision, having now seen that Trump hasn’t lost his influence within the Republican Party.
While Nikki Haley has attempted to reconcile with Trump, Mace has generally continued to side with the small but vocal faction of anti-Trump Republicans in Congress.
Trump went beyond simply endorsing her opponent; he added that she is “an absolutely terrible candidate” and does not reflect the values of the GOP.
Haley and Mace face tough year ahead
The former president hasn’t always had the best record in picking his allies, but his endorsement of Katie Arrington highlights a major shift that has taken place since he left the White House.
Despite attempts by Haley and others to walk back their condemnations, Trump appears to be still in a very unforgiving mood as the midterm elections approach.
Primary races like the one in South Carolina’s 1st District will be the real indicator of where the Republican Party is headed in the near future.
Beyond Trump himself, if Republicans like Nancy Mace are voted out of office across the country it will be a referendum on the willingness of votes to keep electing wishy-washy conservatives.
Mace might like conservatives in her state to forget the fact that she joined with the far left in calling for statues and monuments to be torn down if they offend BLM.
Races like this one may prove to be the end of Nikki Haley and Nancy Mace as individual politicians, but it will also be an opportunity for Republican voters to show that they expect some real consistency and backbone from their elected representatives.
