A source close to President Trump’s former chief Strategist says Steve Bannon is urging Orrin Hatch to run in 2018 and block Mitt Romney’s potential run.
The Washington Examiner reported:
Steve Bannon is mulling an endorsement of Sen. Orrin Hatch in his bid to keep Mitt Romney out of the Senate, a source close to President Trump’s former chief strategist confirmed on Sunday.
Bannon is targeting Republican incumbents in 2018 primaries to undermine support for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Hatch, a McConnell loyalist and a fixture of Washington and the Republican establishment for more than 40 years, is not Bannon’s ideal choice.
But short on insurgent Republicans willing to challenge Hatch, Bannon is eying the seven-term senator as a better option than Romney. Encouraged by Hatch, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee — a sharp, regular critic of Trump — is planning to run for Senate if the incumbent retires.
“If Steve had a choice between Orrin Hatch and Mitt Romney, he would pick Hatch 10 times out of 10,” the source close to Bannon told the Washington Examiner.
