The campaign arm of Senate Republicans executed a coordinated plan to get Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett to run for the Upper House in next year’s elections, as she would be their preferred candidate, according to a new report.
Republicans included Crockett in a July poll showing her as the leading Democrat should she run, NOTUS reported. “When we saw the results, we were like, ‘OK, we got to disseminate this far and wide,'” a source familiar with the planning told the outlet.
NOTUS added that the National Republican Senatorial Committee then worked to amplify the poll and is now taking credit for launching Crockett to the top of the political conversation in the state.
In fact, Crockett said she was encouraged to throw her hat in the ring following favorable polling. “The more I saw the poll results, I couldn’t ignore the trends that were clear,” she said.
“Not only was it getting positive news coverage, but her office was directly having traffic driven to it in terms of phone calls urging her to run,” source added to the outlet when discussing the effort.
Now, after Crockett announced her run, Republicans are openly expressing joy at the scenario. “Am I hiding my glee? I’ll try to wipe the smile off my face, I would say it’s a gift,” incumbent Republican Senator John Cornyn told Semafor.
“Colin, obviously, he wasn’t successful before, but he was what I would call closer to a normal Democrat than Jasmine. (She) is something else,” Cornyn added in reference to former Rep. Colin Allred, who dropped out of the race on Monday as Crockett was gearing up to announce her run.
Trump also said Crockett’s candidacy is a “gift to Republicans,” as her progressive and confrontational stance could give an edge to the GOP’s candidate.
Speaking to The Hill’s Julia Manchester aboard Air Force One, Trump called Crockett a “low-IQ person” and said he can’t “imagine he wins.”
“Maybe she’ll get the Democratic nomination but I think it’s a gift to Republicans…I’ve watched her for the last two years. I can’t even believe she’s a politician actually,” he added.
Originally published on Latin Times
