COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) 鈥� Paul Dans, a chief architect of , has shuttered his Republican primary challenge to in South Carolina, in a contest set to test the loyalties of and his MAGA movement in this year鈥檚 midterm election.
Dans pulled out Friday, the last day to remove his name from ballots before the state’s primary on June 9.
Trump 鈥� who long ago endorsed Graham, among his top congressional allies 鈥� reacted to the announcement with a social media post suggesting that Tucker Carlson’s endorsement of Dans had been the “KISS OF DEATH鈥� for his campaign.
Trump and Carlson have been feuding over the Iran war, which the former Fox 草莓传媒 star called 鈥渁bsolutely disgusting and evil.鈥� Dans denied his decision to withdraw had anything to do with Carlson.
Dans said he was endorsing another Republican in the contest, appliance business owner Mark Lynch. In another social media post, Trump said Lynch 鈥渨ould be a DISASTER for the Republican Party鈥� if elected.
Dans rose to prominence as one of the people behind Project 2025, which was a blueprint for conservative governance if Trump won his comeback campaign. He said he was pleased with some of Trump’s progress after taking office 鈥� including and 鈥� but there was 鈥渕ore work to do鈥� .
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e done with Project 2025 is really change the game in terms of closing the door on the progressive era,鈥� Dans told The Associated Press last year. 鈥滻f you look at where the chokepoint is, it鈥檚 the United States Senate. That鈥檚 the headwaters of the swamp.鈥�
Dans, an attorney who worked in the first Trump administration as White House liaison to the office of personnel management, often commuted on weekdays to Washington as he at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The nearly 1,000-page policy blueprint included chapters written by leading conservative thinkers.
Challenging the long-serving Graham, who has routinely batted back contenders over the years, is something of a political long shot. A half-dozen other Republican candidates remain in the race, and Graham’s campaign said Monday it had more than $11.6 million cash on hand, raising nearly $1.4 million in the first quarter of this year.
Trump early on gave his endorsement of Graham, of the president, despite their on-again-off-again relationship. Graham, in announcing he would seek a fifth term in the Senate, also secured the state鈥檚 leading Republicans, Sen. and Gov. , to .
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at .
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