Last week, shortly before former President Donald Trump’s appearance in Montgomery, AL, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL) joined his five Alabama Republican congressional colleagues and endorsed Trump.
However, Carl said he is not convinced Trump’s potential general election opponent will be incumbent President Joe Biden.
During an appearance on Mobile, AL radio FM Talk 106.5, the Alabama GOP congressman said that he anticipated Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) would ultimately assume the role as the Democratic presidential nominee next year.
“[I] still don’t think Biden is going to run for president,” he said. “I truly don’t. It’s going to be a health issue. He’s going to back out, and you’re going to see Newsom step in there. There’s not a doubt in my mind. I’ve said that for the last year and a half. My staff all disagrees with me. I love it when I’m wrong about some things. And I hope I’m wrong about this one because I think Biden is very beatable.”
“I think even the Democrat Party is beginning to scratch their head and go, ‘Wait a minute,’ and go, ‘This is just not right,'” Carl continued. “So, we just need to clean some things up and get some younger people involved.”
Carl said he based his decision to support Trump in next year’s Republican primary on the economy.
“Look at the way they’re treating Trump,” he explained. “And I’m not a showhorse. I’m not one to get out and beat the drum and call things the way they’re not. I’m one to sit back and try to collect information and be knowledgeable when I talk about things. But you see the way they’ve treated Trump, just nitpicking him to death, and his numbers still stay strong.”
“This country is in trouble,” Carl continued. “Again, I don’t like to feed on the negative, but from a financial standpoint, we had 10 banks that got served the other day, and I think there is another four they are looking at that is in financial trouble. These are all the signs of a recession, and I’ve gone through one in the ’80s. When it happens, it is not a pretty sight. It takes you a while to dig out.”
“[W]e need some strong leadership,” he added. “We need somebody who can call it the way it is. That was the final straw with Trump. I said, ‘I’m in.’ Now, we get a dark horse that shows up and makes it a really strong horse race — from a Republican standpoint, that’s good stuff because we can all pick from the best of the two. But Donald Trump right now is so far ahead. He is so strong.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
