Former president Donald Trump said Friday that he hasn’t endorsed Steve Garvey because the California GOP Senate candidate has not reached out to him and his supporters.
“I don’t know much about Steve Garvey. I think he’s made a big mistake because he hasn’t reached out to MAGA,” Trump said while visiting California on Friday.
“I’m hearing he wants the MAGA endorsement, but he’s got to call me. If he had the MAGA endorsement, he could win,” the Republican presidential nominee added.
Garvey is facing off against Representative Adam Schiff (D., Calif.) in a battle for the seat currently occupied by Democratic Senator Laphonza Butler, who was appointed to the Senate after the death of longtime Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Schiff and Garvey emerged as the top two vote getters in the state’s “jungle primary,” which pits all primary candidates against each other, regardless of party.
And while Trump on Friday called Schiff “one of the most disgusting human beings,” he has yet to endorse the California Democrat’s opponent. The tension between Trump and Schiff dates back to Schiff’s role in leading impeachment efforts against Trump during his presidential term.
Schiff leads Garvey by 22 percentage points, according to a recent poll from Emerson College.
Schiff’s lead comes as little surprise in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican statewide since 2006. California has a 21-point gap between registered Democrats and Republicans.
Trump, for his part, lost the blue state in both 2016 and 2020 by large margins.