Trump praises ‘fantastic’ Kevin Kiley during presidential announcement speech
Former President Donald Trump called Rocklin’s Kevin Kiley a “fantastic person” on Tuesday as Trump declared his presidential candidacy.
Kiley, a Republican, is leading Democrat Kermit Jones in the still-uncalled race for California’s 3rd District congressional seat.
With 57% of the vote in, Kiley, an assemblyman from Rocklin, led with about 53%. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race. A Kiley win would give the GOP 218 House seats — a majority.
That didn’t deter Trump as he spoke to the appreciative audience gathered at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
“Just a short time ago the Republicans won back control of the House of Representatives,” he said to cheers.
“And it was with a great Trump-endorsed candidate, Congressman-elect Kevin Kiley, who is a fantastic person, a fantastic person. I was very happy it was his vote that did it,” Trump said.
Trump endorsed Kiley for the seat in May, a somewhat surprising development that was a huge boost for the 37-year-old candidate.
Trump had not known Kiley, but was pleased with the candidate’s fundraising and by how he had organized his campaign. He also liked how Kiley had fought to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, an effort that failed overwhelmingly.
It helped Kiley romp over Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones in the primary.
Trump appeared to do little else to help Kiley during the campaign in a district where the former president won about half the vote in 2020.
Still, Kiley embraced the endorsement, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas this summer and making appearances on Fox News’ “Laura Ingraham” show.
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 7:08 PM.
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