Campaign

Corey Stewart to lead pro-Trump super PAC

Corey Stewart, the Virginia Republican who lost to Sen. Tim Kaine (D) in 2018 and has been accused of having ties to white nationalists, was tapped this week to head Keeping America Great, a pro-Trump super PAC.

The group announced his appointment Thursday and will work to raise money to reelect President Trump and promote state and federal candidates who promote his policies, according to The Washington Post.

{mosads}The PAC was previously dedicated to supporting former Rep. David Brat (R-Va.), who was unseated by Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D) in November.

The group last raised $130,000, all from Florida Republican donor William Cooley, according to OpenSecrets. Much of that money went to ads painting Spanberger as an angry liberal and tying Brat to the president.

Stewart’s Senate bid was dogged by accusations of ties to white nationalists. He reportedly fired a top aide who helped bring far-right ideas to his campaign, defended confederate statues and praised Paul Nehlen, a self-proclaimed “pro white” politician candidate. Stewart denied being racist or anti-Semitic.

He ended up losing to Kaine by 16 points and announced in January he will not run for reelection after serving as Prince William Board of County Supervisors for 15 years.

“I’m pretty excited about it,” Stewart, who also chaired Trump’s 2016 campaign in Virginia for a brief time before he was fired, told The Post of his new appointment.

“There’s been a lot of interest,” he added. “A lot of the candidates out there are running in Republican primaries across the country and want to tie themselves to the president.”