What followed was a 15-minute slander session reminiscent of Trump’s reality show. Mandel said he was “crushing” Timken in the polls. Timken praised his support on the ground, thanks to his time as president of the state party. Gibbons mentioned how he helped Trump’s campaign financially. Moreno noted that his daughter had worked on the Trump 2020 campaign.
The scene illustrated what became a central dynamic in the fledgling 2022 race. In virtually all Republican primaries, candidates are running, taking tests and fighting for the support of the ex-president. Trump has received proposals from a crowd of candidates desperate for his endorsement, something that top Republicans say gives him comprehensive power to make or break the primaries.
And the former president, as so often happened during his presidency, seems to take pleasure in pitting people against each other.
A person familiar with what happened at the Wednesday night meeting described it as “The Hunger Games”, an embarrassing confrontation that none of them expected. What made things even more uncomfortable, he said, was that rival candidates sat at a circular table, making each face the others.
Trump kicked off the meeting by asking everyone to tell him how the race was going. Timken, who was the president of Trump’s handpicked state party, was the first to speak. She talked about the initial support she received and how she worked to re-elect him.
Two people familiar with the discussion said Trump at one point reminded Timken that she initially defended Congressman Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) after he voted to impeach Trump in January. That night’s fundraising was to benefit Max Miller, a former White House Trump adviser who was running to oust Gonzalez, and the former president spoke ironically about the member of Congress overnight, several participants said.
Timken, two people said, responded to Trump saying that she “cleared” her position, an apparent reference to a later statement that she released inviting Gonzalez to resign.
Another person informed about the meeting declined the report, saying that Trump was only provoking Timken because of his previous comments about Gonzalez. The person noted that later that night, speaking before the fundraiser, the former president praised Timken for his work as president.
Several people familiar with what happened during the meeting said that most of the tension seemed to be between Timken and Mandel, and that it looked like they were trying to outdo each other. Timken and Mandel have already announced their candidacies and are considered to be the pioneers; Gibbons and Moreno have not yet formally launched their campaigns.
Mandel used his speaking time to promote his recent endorsement of Club for Growth, an anti-tax organization whose president, former deputy David McIntosh (R-Ind.), Is close to the former president. He also noted that a recent survey by the Club for Growth shows that he is leading the field and mentioned that his campaign had conducted private research with similar results.
According to one report, Mandel added that he was “crushing” Timken in the first few searches.
Timken laughed on the negative side, insisting that his internal research showed her in a strong starting position.
The former president said he was aware of the polls that showed Mandel ahead. But at one point, he asked if the former state treasurer was fully committed to the dispute – an apparent reference to Mandel’s decision to withdraw from the 2018 Senate race, which at the time he attributed to his health problems of your wife.
Mandel replied, “Mr. President, I only know two ways of doing things: not at all, or balls for the wall. I hired a bunch of killers for my team. I am a murderer and we are going to win the primary and then the general. “
Mandel was tough during the conversation, saying he endorsed Trump before any of his opponents during the 2016 presidential race and mentioned that he was active in raising money for his candidacy for re-election.
Gibbons talked about how he donated extensively to Trump, although the former president supported Gibbons’ opponent in the 2018 Senate primaries, then Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio). According to reports by two people, Trump responded by saying that Renacci, whom Gonzalez replaced in the House, was not a winner – a likely reference to Renacci’s defeat in the 2018 general election for Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
Moreno largely stayed out of the fight, although at one point he said that each of the four candidates should receive Trump’s endorsement.
Over the course of the night, Trump seemed to be obsessed with Ohio governor Mike DeWine, whom the former president attacked last fall after DeWine called Joe Biden “president-elect” during a national television appearance.
Trump has not yet endorsed the dispute and, during the meeting, gave no indication that he was supporting one candidate over another. The four are running to replace Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who is retiring. The Republican camp is also expected to include author JD Vance, who was not present on Wednesday night.
During the meeting, Trump asked about the governor and whether he could be defeated in the primaries. While Mandel said the governor was politically vulnerable, Timken argued that he would be difficult to defeat.
Later, at the fundraising party, the ex-president asked those in attendance what they thought of his governor. The question at first caused some confusion, as the event was taking place in Florida, whose Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, was an ally of Trump. It soon became clear, however, that he was referring to DeWine.
DeWine has not yet drawn a Republican challenging, although Renacci was quoted as a possible candidate.