GOP/POLITICS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After a critical loss for Republicans in Alabama last month, President Donald Trump is wading back into congressional politics on Thursday [1-18-18] when he travels to western Pennsylvania to signal his backing for the party’s candidate in a special election.
Trump said on Twitter on Thursday he was making the trip ‘in order to give my total support’ to Rick Saccone, the Republican seeking to replace Representative Tim Murphy. Murphy resigned in October amid a sex scandal… Saccone will meet Trump on the tarmac when he lands in Pennsylvania. Afterward, Trump will tour an industrial equipment company outside Pittsburgh, where he will tout the tax-reform legislation passed by Congress last month.
The Democratic candidate in the March 13 election to replace Murphy is Conor Lamb, a former Marine and U.S. attorney.
The race is being watched nationally as an indicator of whether Democrats can be competitive in Republican-leaning congressional districts ahead of November’s mid-term elections, when control of both houses of Congress will be at stake…
In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Trump pledged to be heavily involved in congressional races, including the one to replace Murphy.
Trump’s last foray into congressional politics did not go well.”
-James Oliphant, “Trump flies to Pennsylvania to help Republican in special election,” Reuters, Jan. 18, 2018 08:31am