Tom R. Smedes/AP/File
In this photo from June 2022, Sam Brown speaks to the media in Reno, Nevada.
CNN
—
The increasingly messy Republican Senate primary in Nevada is polarizing supporters of former President Donald Trump.
His race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen is expected to be one of the most competitive in the county, and the only race in which Trump and the National Republican Senatorial Committee have publicly disagreed. It has become one of the battles.
NRSC Chairman Sen. Steve Daines has scouted Sam Brown, a retired Army captain who was severely burned by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, as a candidate to run in November. Mr. Brown met with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort last week to seek his support, two sources familiar with the interaction told CNN.
Mr. Brown has drawn the ire of many of President Trump's most ardent supporters, who have instead privately encouraged the former president to support Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, the former ambassador to Iceland.
It is unclear whether Trump will support him in this race. Jim Merchant, a former state lawmaker who debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud, is also running for office.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz held a rally for Gunter in Nevada over the weekend, but far-right activists and Mar-a-Lago regulars Laura Loomer and Roger Stone are among mainstream Republicans. He blasted Brown on social media for his ties to the sect.
Brown supported Trump in 2020, but has since distanced himself from the former president, saying in an August interview with Punchbowl News that he would “share the Republican ticket with Trump in Nevada. He declined to say whether there would be any resistance. He ultimately endorsed Trump before the Iowa caucuses.
In another sign of more mainstream support, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attended a fundraiser for Brown last year.
All of this information was shared with Trump by Brown's critics in an effort to thwart potential support, sources told CNN.
Negative stories about Mr. Gunter have also been directed at the former president, officials said, including reports that he is a registered Democratic voter in California and negative stories about his tenure as ambassador. It also includes an illuminating 2021 State Department Inspector General report. interaction.
Gunter was urged by national Republicans not to enter the Senate primary, two people familiar with the conversations said.
Gunter and people close to Brown each maintained that Trump campaign officials were allies and believed the former president might support their candidate.
