Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is taking on an Indiana fraudster who is using Trump’s likeness to attack pro-Trump candidates in the U.S. Senate Republican primary. Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
John Rust, a businessman who has voted Democratic for years and is running in the Republican Senate primary in Indiana this year despite challenges to his voting eligibility, is using Trump to support Jim.・A new ad attacking Congressman Banks (Republican) is being launched. IN) is a candidate that Trump actually supports and tries to compare himself to Trump.
of advertisementis available on Rust’s account on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) and repeatedly displays an image of Trump, followed by an image of Banks, as Rust compares himself to the former president. Meanwhile, Rust claims Banks is not aligned with Trump.
The irony here, of course, is that Trump doesn’t support Rust. In fact, President Trump has endorsed Banks, the former chairman of the ultra-conservative Republican Research Committee (RSC) in the House of Representatives and a longtime ally of President Trump in Congress.
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 3: Representative Jim Banks (R-Ind.) is seen outside the House Republican Conference at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty image)
Asked by Breitbart News to respond to Rust’s ad, a Trump campaign spokesperson said that the use of Trump’s likeness in campaign ads “must stop” and that Trump supports Senate Banks. I repeated that I was doing it.
“President Trump’s friend Jim Banks is the only candidate in this race that President Trump supports,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told Breitbart News. “Other candidates who use President Trump’s name, image, and likeness to intentionally deceive voters must immediately cease. I look forward to doing great things for Indiana and our country.”
Mr. Rust’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Breitbart News sent Thursday night seeking a response to the Trump campaign’s message asking the company to stop using Mr. Trump’s likeness.
Banks, who is running for Indiana governor to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), received his first major endorsement from President Trump in the 2024 cycle. In fact, Trump endorsed Banks’ candidacy for the Senate a year ago, back on February 1, 2023, even though it scared off a potential challenge from former Gov. Mitch Daniels. It was helpful.
Nevertheless, Rust decided to run against Banks, even though his path to the Republican nomination was almost clear. As Breitbart News reported, Rust has family ties to an egg empire accused of inflating egg prices in an antitrust lawsuit, and the facility also has ties to victims in cold cases.
As Breitbart News has previously reported, Rust is also a long-time registered Democratic voter in Indiana.
