Missouri Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley in an interview published Monday sidestepped questions about President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE

Hawley avoided directly addressing questions about the president's past actions toward women, telling The Associated Press, "No. 1, I am always my own man."

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“I value my independence very highly,” the candidate said. “My loyalties as a U.S. senator would be first and foremost to the people of Missouri and their needs.”

Trump threw his support behind Hawley during a trip to Missouri last year.

“Josh, our next senator, where is he?” Trump said in a speech. “He’s going to be a great senator and he wants to see a big tax cut. ... Your current senator does not want a tax cut. That’s not good," he continued, referring to incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskillMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Democratic-linked group runs ads in Kansas GOP Senate primary Trump mocked for low attendance at rally MORE (D-Mo.) who faces a tough reelection bid in a state that Trump won by nearly 20 points in 2016.

Hawley did say he was “delighted to have the president’s support.”

“The president endorsed me back in November,” he said. “He’s been here obviously a couple of times now. We’ll hope he’ll come back.”

Hawley is seen by Republicans as a potentially valuable asset in what could be one of the most competitive midterm races in November.

A Gravis survey published on March 12 had McCaskill up 2 points over Hawley, while Hawley led by 8 points in an Axios–SurveyMonkey poll released just a week earlier.