How J.D. Vance is exerting his influence in a key race in critical swing state…as Donald Trump is now backing TWO candidates
It appears to be the first time that Donald Trump has endorsed both leading Republicans in the Arizona House primaries, where they face off against each other.
“They will both be spectacular and I am thrilled to announce that both Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh have my full and total support to become the next Congressmen from Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. THEY WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
Trump and his vice-presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, previously faced off in the contentious Arizona primaries.
Trump originally supported Hamadeh, while Vance has always supported Masters.
Hamadeh and Masters have become bitter rivals since they both ran unsuccessfully on the same list in 2022: Hamadeh for the position of attorney general and Masters for the position of senator.
In what appears to be a first, Donald Trump has endorsed both leading Republicans in an Arizona House primary where they will face off
Trump ordered Masters not to run for the Senate, this time to make way for Kari Lake, and he complied. Masters instead focused on the race for the House of Representatives for the 8th district — and Trump threw his weight behind him this time in the fight for Sunday’s switch.
“Blake Masters is a very successful businessman and an incredibly strong supporter of our Movement to Make America Great Again – He’s smart and tough! Likewise, Abe Hamadeh, a veteran, former prosecutor, and fearless fighter for election integrity, has been with me all the way!” Trump said.
The show of support came shortly after Trump praised cryptocurrencies at the Bitcoin conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Vance is holding a rally in the Arizona district on Wednesday, the day after the primary. A source familiar with the race wondered whether Trump was worried that Vance’s political clout would trump his own.
Vance and Masters have a connection through billionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
Masters was COO of Thiel Capital until 2022, when he stepped down to focus on the Senate bid. But FEC disclosures show that Thiel paid Masters an eye-watering $25 million in bonuses last year. The form notes that the payment was part of a five-year plan agreed to in 2018.
Thiel, who donated $10 million to Masters’ failed Senate bid in 2022, has sworn off political donations this cycle. Trump reportedly called him a “f***ing scumbag” to Masters after the ex-president called Thiel to ask him to donate $10 million to his 2024 campaign.
Thiel, meanwhile, served as a mentor to Vance, an investor in his venture capital firm, donated more than $15 million to his Senate campaign and helped him recruit other high-net-worth donors.
Although he has not yet invested any additional money this round, Thiel appears to be warming up to the Trump ticket.
Masters stirred controversy by responding to Vance’s comments about his “childless cat lady.”
“Political leaders should have children. At the very least, they should be married,” Masters wrote on X. “If you don’t and can’t run your own household, how can you relate to a constituency of families, or govern wisely with respect to future generations? Skin in the game matters.”
Masters leveled the same criticism at Hamadeh, who is single, comparing it to Masters himself, who has a “wonderful wife and four handsome boys.”
Trump and his vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance previously faced each other in the controversial primaries in Arizona
Vance told Tucker Carlson in a 2021 interview that the US is run “through the Democrats, through our corporate oligarchs – through a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
A former congressman who offered a staffer $5 million to have his child and a local lawmaker who made pro-Hitler claims are also among the colorful candidates vying for the seat to replace retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko.
Masters also attacked Hamadeh because he is the child of Syrian immigrants and is Muslim.
“Dishonest Abe supported Chuck Schumer’s Amnesty Act, perhaps because Abe’s parents were illegal immigrants,” a Masters ad read. “Dishonest Abe said women have the right to abort their babies. Dishonest Abe supported cuts to Social Security, Medicare and the military. Dishonest Abe said America was founded on Islamic principles. He even said Israel was behind 9/11.”
The video shows images of Hamadeh surrounded by minarets in Mecca, wearing an ihram.