Trump Ally Lewandowski Continues to Tease Run for U.S. Senate

(Bloomberg) -- Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, said Saturday he’s still considering a run for the U.S. Senate from New Hampshire, and taunted one of his potential Republican opponents.

The lobbyist and political operative tweeted that he’s “seriously thinking of running for the US Senate” and in a tweet declared himself the “only candidate” would could defeat Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. “Let’s send help to the President” as Trump faces impeachment proceedings in the U.S. House of Representatives, Lewandowski added.

In one of a series of Saturday tweets, Lewandowski linked to an article on the website of Manchester, New Hampshire, television station WMUR that reported Donald Bolduc, a declared Senate Republican candidate, had privately lamented his lackluster fundraising and wondered if Lewandowski speculation was a factor.

Lewandowski, mentioning Bolduc, a retired U.S. Army officer, tweeted that his “fundraising sucks because of the candidate. Not because of anything I did. Look forward to seeing you in September 2020 when you endorse me for the General Election. #TeamTrump.”

At their recent party convention that featured presidential and local candidates, New Hampshire Democrats distributed leaflets attacking Lewandowski in anticipation of a possible run by the 46-year-old, who first said in August that he was “seriously” considering entering the race.

Another declared Republican Senate candidate in New Hampshire, former U.S. Army Ranger Bryant “Corky” Messner, said he would vote to acquit Trump in an impeachment trial, WMUR reported.

The comment was another indication of the extent to which Republican Party politics have come down to who shows the strongest support for Trump, even in a liberal-leaning state that he lost in 2016.

Second-term senator Shaheen, 72, is a former governor of the Granite State. Early polling suggests Shaheen would easily beat Lewandowski but may have a closer run against Kelly Ayotte if the former senator, narrowly defeated in 2016, decided to run again.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sahil Kapur in Washington at skapur39@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Steve Geimann

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