Steve Bannon who? Kelli Ward seems to deny endorsement in CNN interview
Dan Nowicki
Kelli Ward on Thursday became the latest Republican to throw Steve Bannon under the political bus.
Ward, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, put more distance between herself and her onetime ally, even going so far as trying to suggest that the controversial former White House strategist had never truly endorsed her.
"I don't know that I actually really got a full endorsement from Steve," Ward said during a morning interview on CNN.
After being reminded that her own campaign news releases formerly touted a Bannon endorsement, Ward responded: "Yes, but he was never part of my campaign. He was never an adviser. I mean, he's not somebody that I'd reach out and talk to in any way, shape or form. So it's funny that you and especially the establishment would love to tie me to Steve Bannon."
Less than three months ago, Ward and Bannon teamed up at an Oct. 17 Ward campaign event in Scottsdale.
Bannon embraced Ward, a former state senator from Lake Havasu City, as part of his nationwide "open revolt" against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and the Republican establishment. The Bannon-aligned Great America PAC — a super PAC that supports Trump and his agenda — around the same time also announced that it was backing Ward.
ROBERTS:Ward says Bannon never endorsed her
But now, Bannon is persona non grata with President Donald Trump, whose endorsement Ward has aggressively pursued. And a new poll conducted Tuesday on Arizona's Republican Senate race found that 60 percent of GOP primary voters would consider a Bannon endorsement a liability for a candidate.
The ABC15/OH Predictive Insights automated telephone poll of 504 likely 2018 GOP primary voters found U.S. Rep. Martha McSally of Tucson, who is expected to announced her Senate candidacy on Friday, with 31 percent support. She was followed by former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio with 29 percent and Ward, the former GOP front-runner, with 25 percent. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.36 percentage points.
Incumbent Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., announced Oct. 24 that he would not seek re-election this year.
"Joe Arpaio's decision to enter the Senate race spells doom for the wobbly Ward campaign," pollster Mike Noble predicted in a written statement that accompanied the survey results.
Trump recently publicly excommunicated Bannon after publication of insulting comments about Trump's children attributed to him in a new book by Michael Wolff titled "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House." Bannon was quoted as saying Donald Trump Jr. had participated in a "treasonous" meeting with a Russian lawyer and that Ivanka Trump was "dumb as a brick."
Bannon subsequently has claimed that his "treasonous" comment was a criticism of Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager.
Since Trump denounced Bannon, some Bannon-backed candidates have disavowed him. He also has lost his perch as executive chairman at right-wing Breitbart News.
"I am distancing myself from Steve Bannon," Ward said on CNN. "He's made some significant mistakes, significant gaffes, that are unacceptable to me. I support the president, I support the president's family, and I support the will of the American people and the people of Arizona who want the 'America First' policies to be put in place."
Ward's comments on Thursday were more definitive than her campaign's first attempt to downplay her relationship with Bannon after the Trump-Bannon feud erupted.
In a Jan. 3 written statement, her campaign press secretary did not attempt to deny a Bannon endorsement but noted, "Steve Bannon is only one of many high-profile endorsements Dr. Ward has received."
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Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter, @dannowicki.
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