Republican Kansas Senate hopeful Kris Kobach struggled to answer whether he would support President Donald Trump even if he outwardly admitted he is a “racist.”
What We Know:
- CNN host Chris Cuomo asked Kobach in an interview Tuesday, July 16, pressing the former Secretary of State about Trump’s recent racist tweets urging American congresswomen of color, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley, to “go back” to where they came from; Cuomo asked Kobach why more Republicans have not publicly denounced the Tweet.
….and viciously telling the people of the United States, the greatest and most powerful Nation on earth, how our government is to be run. Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2019
- Kobach defended Trump’s Tweets, explaining that the “places” Trump writes about in the Tweet are, indeed, crime-ridden and that his comments have nothing to do with race. Kobach then said that if the President were to explicitly say “I am a racist,” he doesn’t know if he would support him as President.
- Kobach’s interview came as the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Trump’s Tweet on Tuesday; the resolution passed along party lines with 235 Democrats and only four Republicans supporting the measure.
- Kobach’s campaign for Senate largely runs on his involvement working to make the border wall a reality; He is the general counsel for the “We Build the Wall” fundraising group to make the barrier wall possible.
The Republican party is largely opposed to Kobach’s campaign; the National Republican Senatorial Committee is expected to work against Kobach for fear his campaign would jeopardize the Kansas seat that would otherwise be a safe Republican win.
