Former President Donald Trump called Daniel Kelly, the losing Republican nominee for the Wisconsin state Supreme Court, “a foolish man” for refusing Trump’s endorsement.
Kelly, who lost his race to a liberal candidate this week, did not seek Trump’s endorsement during his campaign, something the former President highlighted in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday (April 5).
In the post, Trump suggested Kelly “bragged” about not seeking his endorsement, a move the former President believes sealed Kelly’s loss, as Trump didn’t give him the backing.
Trump queried how “foolish” a man had to be to not seek an endorsement that would guarantee him the win.
The day before Trump’s comments, Kelly, a former state Supreme Court justice, lost to liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz in a race in Wisconsin, placing liberals in the majority in the State Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years.
Democrats lauded the result as a victory for Wisconsin, given the collapse of federal protections for abortion access.
During the election, Kelly was adamant he wouldn’t seek Trump’s endorsement, telling NBC News he wasn’t “looking for” it.
Kelly made the remarks during an interview, where he was asked if Trump would make a last-minute statement endorsing him.
Kelly added that he wasn’t “really looking for endorsements from political actors.”
Protasiewicz won Tuesday’s race against Kelly by a comfortable margin — receiving 55 percent of the vote, garnering 200,000 more votes than Kelly. Yet, an endorsement from Trump was unlikely to move the needle, as the former President lost the state — by less than one percentage point — to President Joe Biden in 2020.
