By ALEX BAUMHARDT/Oregon Capital Chronicle
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Oregon, said Wednesday he’ll back former President Donald Trump’s campaign for president.
Trump leads the small pack of candidates vying for the Republican nomination, which will be decided in state primaries between January and June. Oregon’s primary will be held May 21, and the Oregon Supreme Court is weighing a challenge to bar Trump from the ballot on the grounds that he engaged in insurrection.
Bentz tweeted Wednesday morning that he chose Trump after talking with friends, constituents and the former president’s cabinet members.
“I now believe that Donald Trump will ultimately win the Republican primary and if we Republicans join together he will be elected president,” Bentz wrote.
Bentz did not immediately respond to questions from the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday. Bentz will also be on the primary ballot in May, and faces a challenge in the Republican primary from Prineville Mayor Jason Beebe. The Oregon Republican Party is not allowed to endorse a presidential candidate in the primary, according to Tracy Honl, the party’s national committeewoman.
“While not all Oregon Republicans support former President Trump, the Oregon Republican Party has a large number of people who very much do,” she said in an email Wednesday evening. “I think it’s safe to say that many will be thrilled with Congressman Bentz’s endorsement.”
Bentz represents the sprawling 2nd Congressional District. He previously endorsed Trump for president in 2020 and joined fellow Republicans who voted against certifying election results from Pennsylvania, one of six swing states won by President Joe Biden. That vote was unsuccessful, but it would have denied nearly 7 million voters a say in who should be president. Bentz also supported an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Every Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Speaker Jim Jordan, R-Louisiana, has endorsed Trump. Oregon’s only other Republican representative, Lori Chavez DeRemer, who represents the 5th Congressional District, told the Capital Chronicle she has not yet endorsed a candidate.
“The first votes of the 2024 race still haven’t been cast, and I look forward to seeing the process play out,” she said in an email.
Bad choice, Cliff.
There are worse choices, Lee
I too endorse Trump, our economy was so much better when he was in office even though many Dems went out of their way to create havoc for Trump to be able to accomplish all that he did. Trump worked and Biden is constantly on vacation and I have found him to be incredibly dishonest always.
The worst choice for beautiful Oregon is the one Rep. Bentz is so proud of. How can you think this person is your savior, this is who you must rally around–someone who brags about wrongdoing, who lies continually and who tried to seize power from a duly and fairly elected new president? Someone who started and fomented an insurrection? The person who allowed chain migration for his in-laws but put migrant children in cages? And wants to deport immigrants? This, this is the person you want at the helm? Abraham Lincoln would not recognize this party from your abortion bans that will kill the mother of the unborn to the killing of states rights and the propulsion of lies over the truth–you have bastardized and ruined a once proud political party making it a joke not only nationwide but internationally as well. If we do not stand together as all Americans and stitch our country back together as a whole we are all doomed. If this man is elected again we will have no environmental protections and Oregon as we know it will perish. We will no longer have her beauty, her lush green forests, her scenic public beaches, the birds of the air the fish in our sea. He will, as always, protect the area near his home–but all other areas will be open to drilling, corporate greed and the collective insanity that has driven the reasonable people out of the Republican party.
Lastly, what is the agenda of the Republican party? It seems all any of the elected Republican leaders are doing is going backward with a policy of just repeal anything any Democrat has done, there is no agenda and no plan other than to land America back into the dark ages with coal plants, oil drilling and hate-filled rhetoric and violence against anyone who comes out against your chosen dictator. Anyone in favor of civil, environmental, or human rights for all people including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, or for any minority– is at war with your party. Stop being so afraid of progress and step into the future, it could be a beautiful place for all of us not just the white, rich, male few and the way we can all benefit is to embrace the future not run from it.
The economy is better now than under the former president. Unemployment is at the lowest level in years. Corporate greed is keeping prices high, not the current administration. As for dishonesty, what is it 91 felony counts against the former president? I’d say that covers the dishonesty portion right there.