Virginia Republican Senate nominee Corey A. Stewart suggested Hillary Clinton and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) could be put in jail on June 12. Via Washington Post (Stewart for Senate)

Republican Corey Stewart won his Senate primary race in Virginia on Tuesday.

While many conservatives lamented Stewart’s win, President Trump make a point of praising him Wednesday morning.

Congratulations to Corey Stewart for his great victory for Senator from Virginia. Now he runs against a total stiff, Tim Kaine, who is weak on crime and borders, and wants to raise your taxes through the roof. Don’t underestimate Corey, a major chance of winning! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018

Conservative RedState has already declared the race against Democrat Tim Kaine lost, in light of Stewart’s primary win. “Let’s not beat around the bush here,” said acting editor Joe Cunningham. “Corey Stewart should never be treated as a serious candidate, much less a party’s nominee.”

RedState calls Stewart – who made the Confederate flag a key issue of his campaign – a “tainted” candidate over his ties to both anti-Semite Paul Nehlen and Jason Kessler, organizer of the 2017 white power rally in Charlottesville. Cunningham argues this won’t just affect the VA race, but other candidates in other races this fall. And that was before the President decided to celebrate his victory.

Corey Stewart ran last year in Virginia, challenging Ed Gillespie in the primary and narrowly losing. He promised to be back in 2018 with an even more full-throated Trump embrace, and in that he delivered. When Gillespie himself lost to Democrat, conservative author and columnist Mona Charen wrote about the future of the party.

Trump’s Rasputin, Steve Bannon, seems convinced that nastiness is the secret sauce. He was for Gillespie’s primary challenger, Corey Stewart, who ran on worshipping Confederate statues, labeling his opponents “cucks,” and locking up illegal immigrants. Wonder how well he would have done if he’d been the party’s nominee instead of Gillespie?

It’s no longer a thing to imagine but to watch, with Stewart now the nominee for the party a key Senate race.

The President, taking none of this into account, pandered to the lowest common denominator in his base, the Bannonite wing, and endorsed the “pro-white”, Nehlen-adoring Stewart on Twitter, although it would have been just as easy to say nothing.

Hot Air’s Allahpundit summarizes not only how the November contest is shaping up, but the likely reaction of the DNC seeing Trump’s tweet this morning.

Dems finding out Corey Stewart won the primary like pic.twitter.com/4eG28z0iqf — Allahpundit (@allahpundit) June 13, 2018

But Trump won’t be leaving anything well enough alone this year. Not even sitting members of Congress during primary battles.

This is all – from the strategy of embracing anyone who kisses Trump’s ring to the open pandering to the alt-right – straight out of Steve Bannon’s playbook. Interesting, that.

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