“Lynda Blanchard donated nearly $1 million to pro-Donald Trump political committees, served as his ambassador to Slovenia and launched her Alabama Senate campaign with a video spotlighting her Trump bumper sticker-adorned pickup truck. But the former president was annoyed after hearing from donors that Blanchard was hyping her connections to Trump and giving them the impression she had his backing. Trump, who was widely believed to be leaning toward Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), a longtime ally who spoke at the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the deadly Capitol riot, vented to his advisers that he barely knew Blanchard. The former ambassador’s allies insist she never meant to imply she had Trump’s support – but before long, Trump decided to make his endorsement of Brooks official, even though the primary was more than a year away.”

“With the 2022 Republican primary season beginning to take shape, candidates up and down the ballot are portraying themselves as staunch Trump loyalists, showing off photos they’ve taken with the former president, divulging private conversations they’ve had with him and, in Blanchard’s case, brandishing Trump-signed nomination papers. But some candidates are taking it too far – and Trump and his team are aggressively letting them know it. ‘Lots of candidates pretend to have the support of President Trump. Most are full of shit. You will know when President Trump endorses someone,’ said former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The episodes illustrate the colliding pressures confronting the former president and the Republican office-seekers desperate for his support. While candidates are calculating that they need voters to see them as Trump-approved, the former president is protective of his political brand and recognizes that his much-coveted endorsement – and the performance of the candidates who get it – is one of his primary means of maintaining relevance” – Politico.