THREATENING

Republican Senate Candidate Says He’ll End Mueller Probe if Elected

In a new ad before the GOP primary next week, Todd Rokita parrots Donald Trump and calls the investigation a ‘fake news... witch hunt.’

A Republican in Indiana running for Senate aired a new ad on Wednesday where he promised to end special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump.

“Mueller, Pelosi, Donnelly. They’re using fake news to destroy our president. Who’s tough enough to stop the witch hunt?” Rep. Todd Rokita says in the TV spot targeting incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly.

Rokita is running for the Republican nomination against Rep. Luke Messer and Mike Braun, a businessman. The primary will be on May 8.

In many GOP primaries across the country, candidates have been vying to be the most pro-Trump they can be. Last night during a West Virginia GOP primary debate, all the candidates agreed that Mueller's probe should end.

Rokita has been trying his hardest to flex his pro-Trump bonafides, even donning a "Make America Great Again" hat in a previous ad and bringing a cardboard cutout of the president to some campaign events. Additionally, Trump's re-election campaign reportedly asked Rokita to take down yard signs that gave the impression that he had been endorsed by the president.

Ironically, in a February 2016 interview, Rokita reportedly expressed support for Marco Rubio for president.

"When you see Marco contrasted with Donald Trump — I mean someone who is vulgar, if not profane," Rokita said. "At some point you have to be presidential. People expect that and you see that in Marco Rubio."

The Indiana Senate race is one of ten contests in November where Democrats will be defending seats in contests that Trump won handily in 2016.

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Gideon ResnickPolitical Reporter

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