Trump goes after ‘puppet’ Evan McMullin

by Jesse Byrnes - 10/30/16 12:13 AM ET

Donald Trump is targeting independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin, arguing the former CIA officer could jeopardize his candidacy by winning Utah.

“I love the people of Utah. I have great relationships in Utah. Now if for some reason we lose Utah, that could have a very devastating impact on the overall,” Trump said alongside his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, during an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier.

{mosads}”If they go enough for this character that’s running all over the state, and we lose the state of Utah, that’s devastating,” the GOP presidential nominee continued, pointing to the Supreme Court vacancy and vowing to nominate conservative judges to the high court.

Trump knocked McMullin while going after Bill Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine and a vocal opponent of his candidacy. Trump called Kristol a “loser” during the Fox interview, saying “he’s called the wars wrong” and “he’s called everything wrong.”

“He gets his puppet to go and run in Utah. The guy takes votes away from me. You know, we’re going to win Utah,” Trump said, according to multiple reports.

McMullin fired back at Trump on Twitter, invoking his experience with the CIA while knocking Trump over reports about his behavior with members of beauty pageants.

“Yes, you’ve never heard of me because while you were harassing women at beauty pageants, I was fighting terrorists abroad,” he wrote in one of a series of tweets targeting the businessman.

.@realDonaldTrump, Yes you’ve never heard of me because while you were harassing women at beauty pageants, I was fighting terrorists abroad. https://t.co/hNDTWn3HPN

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 30, 2016

.@realDonaldTrump, you’re an authoritarian, life-long liberal who disrespects life, liberty, & equality. We can’t trust you on justices.

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 30, 2016

.@realdonaldtrump, you think you’re entitled to Utahns’ and other Americans’ votes. We’re earning them.

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 30, 2016

.@realDonaldTrump, we will not sit by while two corrupt, self-serving, big government liberals like you and Clinton destroy our country.

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 30, 2016

Kristol brushed off Trump’s comments, tweeting that he was “helping Evan McMullin win Utah.”

A good night for conservatives: Indians helping extend one of the oldest baseball traditions; Trump helping Evan McMullin win Utah.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 30, 2016

Trump is currently leading by 5.8 points in a five-way matchup in Utah with third-party candidates, according to the RealClearPolitics polling index. Trump has 31 percent support, while McMullin is tied with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at 25.2 percent support in the index.

McMullin launched his long-shot White House bid in August and has set his sights on shoring up support in his home state of Utah, where he attended Brigham Young University and has headquartered his campaign.

Tags Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Mike Pence Utah