Podcast: Senate Candidate Tom Campbell Says He “Doesn’T Support or Endorse” Trump’s “Sh*thole” Comments

The audio from today’s radio show is below. If you want the audio delivered to your devices every day you can subscribe to the podcast.

U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell joined me today. Campbell has worked hard to align his campaign with President Donald Trump, so I asked him what he thought of Trump’s comments calling certain African countries “sh*tholes.”

“Whether he did or didn’t,” Campbell said, referring to the fact that Trump has denied making the comments, “I don’t support or endorse that.”

“He always ends up tripping himself up,” Campbell added, noting Trump’s propensity to stoke controversy with comments and social media posting, though he went on to say that he still “supports 90 percent” of Trump’s agenda.

Campbell also said he was “surprised” when Congress Kevin Cramer announced he wasn’t running for the U.S. Senate. I noted that many political observers have described Cramer’s decision to stay in the House as a blow to Republican chances to pick up a Senate seat from Democrats, and pointed out that this isn’t a very flattering commentary on his candidacy.

Campbell acknowledged that Cramer polled higher than he did against Heitkamp in his own campaign polling, but said he still feels like he can make a strong case against Heitkamp. “I’ve been overwhelmed by the support” since Cramer made his announcement, Campbell said, saying that contributions to his campaign have been “going wild” in the since yesterday.

I also spoke with Public Service Commissioner Randy Christmann about the PSC’s inquiry into the impact of federal tax reform on utility companies. In other parts of the country that reform is translating into lower utility bills for consumers. Christmann said the chances of that happening in North Dakota are “very real.”

“There’s no reason not to think there’s some savings to be had here,” Christmann told me.

Here’s the full audio:

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