Indiana GOP candidate targets Senate rival over past Trump criticism

Rep. Todd Rokita is highlighting Rep. Luke Messer’s criticism of President Trump during the 2016 campaign as he battles his fellow Indiana Republican ahead of a Senate primary next year.

In a minute-long ad first shared with The Hill, the Rokita campaign features several clips from past interviews where Messer made critical comments about Trump while he was still a presidential candidate.

In one TV interview from June 9, 2016, Messer asks, “I think one of the real mysteries of this fall campaign is [does] Donald Trump really have some kind of personal tick where he can’t control what he has to say?”

{mosads}Another clip from the same day shows a CNN reporter asking Messer if Trump knows when to be “presidential.” The Indiana congressman responded, “He hasn’t shown it yet. That’s the reality of it.”

Messer’s campaign is pushing back on the ad, arguing that he was supportive of the president during the campaign and has continued to support him.

The primary is scheduled for May 8. 

The Rokita ad is in response to a spot last week from Messer’s campaign where he highlights his support for the agenda of Trump and Vice President Pence, the former governor of Indiana.

Messer’s ad doesn’t mention Rokita or any of his GOP rivals and instead takes aim at Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who he accuses of blocking the president’s agenda and canceling out the vote of fellow Indiana Sen. Todd Young (R).

“I support the Trump agenda. I’m running to replace Sen. Joe Donnelly and force the Republican majority to have a spine,” Messer says in the ad.

Former state Rep. Mike Braun is also running for the GOP nomination and has injected a substantial amount of his own money into the race, which has helped him go on the air.

Of the nearly $1.1 million he raised from July to September, Braun loaned himself $850,000. By comparison, Rokita and Messer both have about $2.4 million in their campaign accounts.

Updated at 8:52 p.m.