On Wednesday, Donald Trump endorsed fellow reality TV veteran Spencer Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral bid. “I’d like to see him do well, he’s a character,” he told a group of reporters, adding: “I heard he’s a big MAGA person.”
Across the country, and especially in its deepest-red bastions, GOP political hopefuls vie for Trump’s support, which is powerful in primaries and less effective in general elections, especially in swing states. The President has wielded his kingmaker status as both loyalty-enforcement tool (elevating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Senate seat contest opposite incumbent John Cornyn) and purge mechanism against critics (as when he yesterday ousted a longtime nemesis, conservative Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie). Trump has also backed GOP California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, buoying the former Fox News host’s candidacy in a large, fragmented field that also includes a popular MAGA-approved county sheriff.
Yet for Pratt, a registered Republican who’s spent the race positioning himself as a non-partisan and independent, the endorsement is likely a poisoned chalice. He’s well-aware that the city is heavily liberal and votes Democrat by a substantial margin. (Los Angeles County broke for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election by a 65 percent to 32 percent margin.)
