Barely two days after his contentious — and, on the right, celebrated — testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Corey Lewandowski told Newsmax he was leaning toward seeking the Republican nomination against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., in 2020.
“I am leaning toward running,” the former Trump campaign manager emailed us shortly after concluding his nationally-televised testimony.
The feisty Lewandowski’s combative responses to Democratic lawmakers clearly delighted conservative activists and grassroots Republicans in New Hampshire. At one point, he referred to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D.-Calif., as “President Swalwell” — a reference to the Golden State lawmaker’s brief and failed presidential bid this year.
At another point, when questioned over whether he put a dictated message from Trump in his safe, Lewandowski replied: “It’s a big safe, congressman. There’s lots of guns in it.”
“Corey appropriately pushed back on the abusive and ridiculous inquisition from House Democrats,” Hillsborough County (N.H.) GOP Chairman Chris Ager told Newsmax, “Good for him.”
Moderate former Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., said that Lewandowski’s testimony certainly gave him national visibility and likely significantly increased his name recognition in New Hampshire. Whether this increased public awareness of him is a positive or negative for him remains to be seen”
Bass also noted that “the fact that he decided to take time during a break in the hearing to focus his attention on a possible Senate candidacy is an indication that his interest in entering the race is more serious than I previously thought.”
Former State GOP Chairman Wayne McDonald went even further in his assessment of Lewandowski’s chances of entering the Senate primary.
In his words, “Corey Lewandowski's strong testimony before the House Judiciary Committee made what has been considered a probable run for the United States Senate a virtual certainty."
Already in the race for the Republican nomination to oppose Shaheen are state House Speaker Bill O’Brien (who has the endorsement of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz) and retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Donald Bolduc.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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