Trump Blasts Ron DeSantis for Endorsing Colorado GOP Senate Nominee: ‘A BIG MISTAKE!’

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Former President Donald Trump blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for endorsing Colorado GOP Senate nominee Joe O’Dea.

“Hello this is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. America needs strong leadership and desperately,” said DeSantis in a robocall, according to The Washington Examiner on Sunday. “That’s why I’m endorsing Joe O’Dea for U.S. Senate. Colorado, please vote for Joe O’Dea.”

Trump later shared The Washington Examiner piece on his social media site TRUTH Social and wrote, “A BIG MISTAKE!”

(Disclosure: The author of this article is a paid contributor to The Washington Examiner.)

In the GOP Senate primary in Colorado in June, Trump endorsed state Rep. Ron Hanks, who lost to O’Dea, a construction executive. O’Dea has said that Trump should not run in 2024, though he said he would vote for him if he were the GOP presidential nominee. Last week, O’Dea said he would “actively campaign against” Trump, whom he called a “black eye” for the United States.

“I don’t think Donald Trump should run again,” O’Dea told CNN. “I’m going to actively campaign against Donald Trump and make sure that we have got four or five really great Republicans right now.”

In response, Trump blasted O’Dea, calling him a “RINO,” or Republican In Name Only:

There’s this RINO character in the Great State of Colorado, Joe O’Dea, that is running against the incumbent Democrat for the United States Senate, who is having a good old time saying that he wants to “distance” himself from President Trump, and other slightly nasty things. He should look at the Economy, Inflation, Energy Independence, defeating ISIS, the Strongest EVER Border, Great Trade Deals, & much more, before he speaks. MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths. Good luck Joe!

In the RealClearPolitics average, incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO leads O’Dea by 7.5 percentage points ahead of the Nov. 8 midterms.