Former President Donald Trump is being urged to drop Michigan attorney general candidate Matt DePerno in a new television advertisement running exclusively in the Palm Beach, Florida, media market.
The spot began airing Wednesday and runs through Saturday, the same day Trump is traveling to Michigan to rally for DePerno and other Republicans he has endorsed in the state’s August primary. The group behind the ad, Integrity and Honor Fund, bought advertising time on Fox News and the Golf Channel, on Comcast and AT&T U-verse, and specifically in the portion of West Palm Beach/Fort Pierce covering Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private social club and political headquarters.
“Republicans need a winner running for Michigan attorney general, not a grifting loser like Matt DePerno,” the ad’s voiceover says upon the conclusion of the spot.
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Trump backed DePerno because he supports the former president’s unsupported claims that the 2020 election was stolen, including in Michigan. President Joe Biden beat Trump in Michigan 50.62% to 47.84%, by a total of 154,188 votes. But many Republican insiders in Michigan are adamantly opposed to DePerno, believing him to be a particularly flawed candidate.
And less than one week after Trump yanked his endorsement from Rep. Mo Brooks in the Alabama GOP Senate primary, DePerno’s Republican opponents are going on the offensive to convince the former president to do the same in the Michigan attorney general’s race. Just as Trump changed his mind in Alabama after Brooks faltered on the campaign trail, they hope to make the 45th president realize DePerno is similarly problematic and risks his political credibility.
“It was all on the line, and Matt DePerno failed President Trump,” the voiceover says as the ad opens.
Trump has endorsed several Republicans running for various offices in Michigan’s Aug. 2 primary in a concerted effort to elevate those who back his stolen election claims. Veteran Republican operatives in Michigan are skeptical of many of them, but especially DePerno, who they believe could lose in the general election to incumbent Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel despite favorable winds developing for the GOP.
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As part of a campaign to derail DePerno, Republicans opposed to his candidacy raised the issue of tweets the Michigan attorney general contender posted last year critical of Trump allies Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, and Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee’s chairwoman.
On Twitter, DePerno accused Schlapp and McDaniel of misappropriating funds raised to finance Trump’s legal efforts to fight the supposed election fraud in 2020.
.@mschlapp you did nothing to stand up for election integrity, so stop gaslighting now. Remember all the money raised by RNC @GOPChairwoman, @CPAC, and Stop the Steal that was kept. Call me let’s talk. https://t.co/FpmQfCDnOy
— Matthew S. DePerno, Esq. (@mdeperno) March 7, 2021
.@DonaldJTrumpJr Come on Don Jr, please tell everyone about the millions and millions that “Stop the Steal” and @GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel raised and kept. Am I right @mschlapp? You know I am. Stop the hypocrisy and manufactured outrage. https://t.co/dC1V3slZdC
— Matthew S. DePerno, Esq. (@mdeperno) February 27, 2021
Trump is scheduled to host one of his typical widely attended campaign rallies Saturday in Macomb County, outside of Detroit. DePerno is a featured speaker as are other Michigan Republicans endorsed by the former president.
Local fire officials have expressed concerns that the venue, the Michigan Stars Sports Center, might not be equipped to handle the crowd Trump is expected to draw and warn that the rally could be unsafe for attendees.
