Rep. Ted Budd, who is preparing for a heated U.S. Senate primary in North Carolina, told Newsmax on Monday that "every decision" President Joe Biden made since his inauguration has "absolutely hurt our country."
"I think people are very concerned about the direction of our country. That's why I'm running. And whether it's unaffiliateds, or whether it's Republicans, I'm asking for their vote," the Republican congressman said during an appearance on "Spicer & Co."
Budd, whose Senate bid was endorsed by former President Trump, dodged a question aimed at his main primary opponent, former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, on the sampling of independents in polling this cycle.
"I'm not a political scientist. I'm a small business person. I'm Trump endorsed. And that's been a huge help for me," Budd said. "I think a lot of independents or unaffiliateds are very Republican-leaning. Especially this year when they see what Joe Biden's policies have done to our country."
The Senate candidate then listed failures of the Biden administration and warned that the leading Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in his state, former state Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, "would be" utterly on-board with the program.
When asked by host Sean Spicer why he was focusing on Beasley and not McCrory, Budd smirked and replied, "I see you picked up on that, Sean!"
"Nothing's ever done until it's absolutely finished," he cautioned. "So, we want to just wrap it up tomorrow night."
According to a May 16 RealClearPolitics average of Republican primary polls for the North Carolina Senate seat, Budd leads McCrory by 18 points. Former Rep. Mark Walker sits far behind at 8.5%, followed by author Marjorie K. Eastman at 2.8%.
Meanwhile, in the Democratic primary, Beasley is the presumptive candidate. Her top opponents, state Sen. Jeff Jackson and former state Sen. Erica D. Smith, dropped out before January.
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