Trump endorses NH GOP Senate candidate, dings him for waffling on election claims

Former President Trump formally endorsed New Hampshire Senate hopeful Don Bolduc (R) on Monday while also dinging him for flip-flopping on his views on the 2020 election.

“General Don Bolduc has run a great campaign to be the U.S. Senator from the beautiful State of New Hampshire. He was a strong and proud ‘Election Denier,’ a big reason that he won the Nomination, but he then disavowed,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“He has since come back, at least on busing, but that is only a small part of N.H. Election Fraud. Nevertheless, Don Bolduc has asked for my Endorsement, and he’s got it, Complete & Total. His opponent is a disaster on Crime, the Border, Inflation, & all else. Vote for Don Bolduc!” he added.

A Bolduc campaign spokeswoman did not directly comment on Trump’s remark about Bolduc’s 2020 election views, but said in a statement that “General Bolduc welcomes the support of President Trump and anyone who wants to change the direction of this country.”

“Senator [Maggie] Hassan [(D-N.H.)] has no answers on the economic misery facing Granite Staters so she is instead obsessing about the last election, desperately trying to scare voters. General Bolduc is focused on the future, not the past,” Kate Constantini, a spokeswoman, also said.

During the primary, Bolduc, a retired Army general, falsely said that Trump had won the 2020 presidential election, only to later reverse his position after the primary and say that the election had not been stolen. 

But the Republican candidate’s message on the 2020 election has struggled to remain consistent even after the primary ended.

During a second debate against Hassan, he continued to sow doubt in the last election, saying, “I’m the only one sitting here who’s been [in] every town and city in this state over two years, and I believe Granite Staters when they say they don’t like the fact that college students that aren’t residents here can vote. They don’t like the fact that they can’t trust a mail in-ballot system.”

He also baselessly alleged that Hassan was a 2016 election denier during that same debate.

Hassan’s campaign seized on Trump’s statement, with the senator saying in a statement on Monday that “Donald Trump said it himself: Don Bolduc is an election denier, and his endorsement is further evidence that if elected, Don Bolduc would work to overturn our elections and continue to promote dangerous conspiracy theories that undermine New Hampshire’s free and fair elections.”

The Hill has reached out to Bolduc’s campaign for comment.