Many supporters of former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel are disappointed that former President Donald Trump has endorsed “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance in Ohio’s 2022 GOP U.S. Senate primary, as they view Mandel as a more sincere Trumpista than Vance — who was highly critical of Trump during the 2016 election. But journalist Jim Swift, in an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on April 15, has an interesting theory about Trump’s decision to endorse Vance over Mandel and other Republicans in that primary. Mandel, Swift argues, became too “creepy” even for Trump.
Swift continues, “How far did Mandel go? He got himself kicked out of an RNC fundraiser in Florida, when he went to represent grassroots MAGA against the MAGA swamp. He went to Florida for an ‘Apprentice’-style meeting with Trump, along with other Ohio senatorial candidates. In a debate, he even said he’d do anything — anything? — to get Trump’s support.”
In a report for the Daily Beast back in early February, journalists Asawin Suebsaeng and Jackie Kucinich offered some insights on why Mandel wasn’t winning Trump over despite pushing the MAGA agenda so aggressively. Trump, according to Beast sources, had, “for months, told people close to him that he thinks Mandel is a charisma-free weirdo and dork.”
https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/josh-mandel-too-creepy-trump/