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Trump-Endorsed Senate Candidate Once Called Him ‘Fake Republican,’ Report Says

Trump’s “message,” he said, is one “where hatred is stoked and fears are what drive our decision making.”

Trump-endorsed Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno once called the former president a “fake Republican” who propagates “hatred,” and has been deleting social media posts critical of him, CNN reported Friday, adding to similar findings unearthed by The Daily Beast last August. On a radio show in 2016, Moreno said if Trump were to become the GOP nominee, “I think the Republican Party is now a different party and not a party that I want to be a part of.” Trump’s “message,” he added, is one “where hatred is stoked and fears are what drive our decision making.” While Moreno now markets himself as a 2020 election denier, since-deleted tweets from that time say otherwise. He acknowledged Joe Biden’s win and called on other conservatives to do the same. After Jan. 6, furthermore, Moreno made forceful statements condemning the insurrection. In 2022, Moreno dropped out of that year’s GOP Senate primary, which saw Trump endorse J.D. Vance. In 2017, Vance called the then-president a “moral disaster.”