Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Hung Cao for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Virginia to oppose Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine.
In a Sunday post on the social media site Truth Social, Trump announced his “complete and total endorsement” of Cao, a retired military officer from Loudon County, over four other Republicans.
“A Combat Veteran and Highly Decorated Special Operations Officer, Hung Cao will be a tireless fighter to stop Inflation, grow our Economy, secure our Border, strongly support our Incredible Military/Vets, and defend our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump said.
The endorsement comes at a time when Cao has been the subject of stories from the Gannett newspaper chain about why he launched a political action committee last year to raise money for General Assembly candidates but none actually went to them. Instead, much of the money went to Cao’s own political consultants as he geared up his Senate bid, according to the reporting. Cao’s response has been to call the Staunton News Leader, one of the papers where the story appeared, a “podunk local newspaper.”
More recently, Cao has been skipping Republican candidate forums around the state, saying “for me to drive six and a half hours down to Abingdon or something like that and to stand there with four other dudes and to have 30 seconds to answer questions, it’s just ridonkulous, it’s just crazy.”
The other candidates seeking the Republican Senate nomination are Jonathan Emord, Eddie Garcia, Scott Parkinson and Chuck Smith.
Cao, who leads his Republican rivals in fundraising, posted: “I’m honored to receive an endorsement from the 45th and 47th President of the United States Donald Trump!”
The Democratic Party of Virginia issued a statement saying the Trump endorsement is proof that Cao is a “MAGA extremist”: “As Donald Trump continues his attempt to destroy our democracy, Cao will carry the political baggage of tying himself to Trump’s dangerous agenda from now until election day. Trump’s toxic endorsement is further proof that he and Hung Cao share the same extreme MAGA agenda of banning abortion, cutting taxes for the wealthy, and spiking health care costs to pad the profits of Big Pharma and insurance companies. This endorsement will only escalate the infighting in the GOP Senate primary and push the candidates further to the MAGA right so that no matter what candidate emerges will be out-of-touch with Virginia families.”
Early voting is already underway in the June 18 primary.
For more on the June 18 primaries, see our voter guide.