Before a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump holds a private, impromptu meeting with four Senate candidates from Ohio in what one person in attendance compares to The Hunger Games.
Former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken, tech executive Bernie Moreno, and investment banker Mike Gibbons are at Mar-a-Lago to attend a fundraiser for Max Miller, a former Trump White House aide running for a seat in the House of Representatives. But soon after their arrival, an aide to Donald Trump escorts them to a private room where “The Donald” is waiting.
There, each of the guests argues for 15 minutes about why they are a better pick for a Trump endorsement than their opponents. Most of their arguments are attacks on each other.
The most vocal person in the room is Mandel, a Trump loyalist who says the former president should endorse him because he “hired a bunch of killers.” Mandel recently made headlines because a local paper in Ohio has chosen not to quote his political lies and propaganda.
The Plain Dealer in Cleveland said its journalists intend to ignore inaccurate statements from Republican Josh Mandel that they consider to be ploys for attention.
“Mandel is pretty much a nobody right now, a nobody begging for people to notice his Tweets a year ahead of the Senate primary,” Chris Quinn, the Plain Dealer’s editor, wrote in an opinion piece published Saturday. “Just because he makes outrageous, dangerous statements doesn’t mean it is news.”
The Washington Post
Trump leaves the meeting undecided on whether or not he’ll formally endorse any of the candidates.
External Sources
The Washington Post (Archived)
Photo: Doug Mills/Getty via The Daily Beast
