VANDALIA, Ohio — Former President Donald Trump was in the Dayton area Saturday in support of U.S. Senate hopeful Bernie Moreno.
Trump was a guest speaker at the Buckeye Values PAC Rally at Wright Bros. Aero Inc. in Vandalia.
Moreno, a businessman, is running against state Sen. Matt Dolan and Secretary of State Frank LaRose in the Republican primary for Senate. The winner will take on Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown in November.
On Saturday, Trump referred to Moreno as a "fantastic guy," calling him both a "hero" and a "winner."
Alongside rallying for Moreno, the 2024 presidential candidate — who spoke for upwards of 90 minutes — mentioned multiple things regarding his own campaign for the presidency, including bashing "Bidenomics" and the Biden Administration.
"Joe Biden is a great threat to our democracy," Trump said. "He's a tremendous threat to our democracy."
Trump seemed both confident in his own campaign and also Moreno's.
"We're going to take back the Senate [and] we're going to win Ohio," Trump said.
Moreno and Dolan both ran in the 2022 Senate race, which was eventually won by Trump-backed venture capitalist J.D. Vance. The last time Trump came to the Dayton area was in 2022 also at Wright Bros. Aero when he was campaigning for Vance.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced his endorsement of Dolan on Monday, but Trump endorsed Moreno much earlier in the race, announcing his support on his social media network Truth Social in December. The 2024 presidential candidate said Moreno is the exact "successful political outsider" needed to take down Brown.
Moreno called Trump a "transformational leader for America" in a statement released by his campaign earlier this week.
"President Trump knows just how important this election is — it's a contest between the America-First Republican Party and the broken down RINO establishment," Moreno said.
Other than Trump, Moreno also has endorsements from Vance and others. Alongside DeWine, Dolan is also endorsed by former U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. LaRose is endorsed by Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and multiple U.S. representatives.
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