Here at AP, we wonder why Donald Trump has effectively thrown one of his most vociferous supporters, Kansas’ Kris Kobach, under the bus.
On Tuesday, Republicans in the Sunflower State will choose among three candidates to run against Democratic nominee Dr Barbara Bollier, a physician and a State Senator, who, until recently, was herself a Republican.
Kansans have not elected a Democrat to the U S Senate since 1932.
The other Republicans vying in the primary against Kobach are Congressman Roger Marshall, who is supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and wild card candidate Bob Hamilton.
Kobach is well known for being an obnoxiously strong supporter of Trump, with his harsh anti-immigration platform, as well as being ferociously anti-reproductive rights. He was Secretary of State and ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2018, losing to Democrat Laura Kelly, who is doing a terrific job of undoing the immense harm to Kansas’ tax structure caused by former governor Sam Brownback, a Republican.
National Democrats actually favor the nomination of Kobach, as they consider him a weak candidate against Bollier in November.
But Trump has made it clear that he will make no endorsement in the primary (https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/30/politics/kansas-republican-senate-race-trump-involved/index.html).
So we asked intrepid associate solitary reporter Susanna Sherman to visit Kobach to gauge his reaction to Trump’s failure to have his back.
“Susanna,” Kobach said, "I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back by Trump, so I’ve decided to leave the Republican Party for the Constitution Party, which considers itself to be the philosophical foundation of the Tea Party."
When Sherman told Kobach that his self-proclaimed escape from the GOP means he’ll get only two votes — namely, his and his wife’s, Heather Mannschreck, he said he’d rather be Right than wrong.
Then Sherman went to Bollier’s victory party, where she told Bollier that when she becomes a U S Senator in January, she’ll be the first woman physician to be a Senator.