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John James: "I haven't gotten any money from Doinald Trump." (Campaign photo)
In 2018, President Donald Trump endorsed Republican John James when he ran unsuccessfully for Senate, calling him a “spectacular” candidate with “such great potential.”
But in courting the black vote this time around, he appears to be trying to distance himself a little from the president.
During a video conference with black community leaders last week, James was asked whether he disagreed with Trump on anything given the president’s support of his candidacy, Politico reports.
“Plenty, plenty of issues,” James responded. “Everything from cutting Great Lakes funding to ‘shithole countries’ to speaking ill of the dead," apparently referring to Trump's disparagement of the late Sen. John McCain. "I mean, where do you want to start?”
"And so yes, there's gonna be places that I disagree with the president and those are just a couple," he added.
James, 38, an Iraq War veteran, who grew up in the upscale suburbs of Detroit, also told the group:
“I haven’t gotten any money from Donald Trump. I haven't gotten any money from Betsy DeVos. I haven’t gotten any money — that’s political talking points. Very little of that is true.”
Politico notes that while James hasn't received funding from the education secretary, her family has contributed heavily to a super PAC supporting his candidacy.
Trump won Michigan in 2016, but his advisers say it will be hard to win this time, Politico reports. In 2018, the state had a blue wave, with Democrats won key statewide races.
A recent Fox News poll showed Trump trailing Joe Biden by 8 percentage points and James behind Democratic incumbent Sen. Gary Peters by 10 percentage points.
