Trump Chucks His Staff Under the Bus Over Losing Endorsement: ‘If I Had Been Given the Proper Information…’

President Donald Trump threw his staff under the bus over his losing endorsement of Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) in the GOP primary for Iowa governor, claiming he would not have made the same decision if he “had been given the proper information.”

Feenstra, who referred to himself as a “Trump conservative” in some ads in a bid to gain Trump’s endorsement, lost to businessman Zack Lahn in the Republican primary.

Trump ultimately offered up a last-minute endorsement of Feenstra four days before the primary, but it was not enough to secure him the win, and Feenstra conceded before his loss was made official.

Speaking to the press in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, Trump was first asked about his lack of an endorsement for a U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) is squaring off against Derek Dooley in the Republican runoff.

“Next week, there is a big runoff operation in Georgia for U.S. Senate,” a reporter commented. “You notably endorsed a candidate for governor there. You have not endorsed for U.S. Senate between the two Republicans. Why not?”

While the president said he “may do that” he claimed that “every time” he endorses a candidate, they win.”

“It’s been a pretty amazing track record, I was 18-0 this past week,” he said.

Another reporter jumped in to pour salt into the wound of Trump’s Iowa endorsement loss.

“Do you regret endorsing Randy Feenstra?” she asked.

Trump responded by putting the blame on his staff and suggesting he endorsed the “less Trump” candidate due to misinformation:

The man running against him was all Trump. He was the only one out of hundreds of races, hundreds, I’m glad she brought it up. … There’s a gentleman in [Iowa] I endorsed who was much less Trump than the other man that won, as you know. Had I been given the proper information, which I don’t think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person or not endorsed at all, but I would have endorsed the other person. The other person was much more Trump, as you know, than Randy.

Watch above via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!