Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he won’t endorse Donald Trump, his party’s presumptive presidential nominee.
The governor, who would face blowback for backing Trump as a Republican in a traditionally Democratic state, told the Detroit News Editorial Board that he would stay out of presidential politics for 2016.
“I’ve stayed out of the whole thing, and I’m going to continue to,” Snyder told the editorial board. “I’ve got important things I want to work on in Michigan.”
Snyder said he’s primarily focused on the GOP’s effort to re-elect representatives to the Michigan House of Representatives.
But his refusal to back his party’s nominee for the nation’s highest office is more evidence of the friction between midwestern governors and Trump. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has urged Republicans to take back the White House in November, but excluded naming Trump.
Two of Trump’s competitors from the midwest, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have not offered formal endorsements of Trump. Kasich has said he’s not able to support Trump. Walker, who endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has been largely silent but previously expressed a willingness to support Trump if he won the nomination.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is one of the only midwestern Republican governors to fully board the Trump train — after endorsing Cruz just before the Hoosier State cast its ballots.
