Kansas Senate race: Kobach spoke with Trump, same day president met with Marshall

President Donald Trump called Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kris Kobach on Monday, the same day he met with Rep. Roger Marshall about the Kansas race.

Kobach spokeswoman Danedri Herbert confirmed the call. In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Kobach said he and the president talked generally about the race and immigration.

“He was calling to check in on the race and he was encouraging,” Kobach said.

On Monday, Marshall received the endorsement of former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole.

Kobach’s campaign responded to the Dole endorsement with an announcement of support from the National Association for Gun Rights. On Tuesday, the campaign rolled out an endorsement by Gun Owners of America.

Asked about the Dole endorsement, Kobach mentioned the backing from gun groups. Pressed, he contended endorsements from individuals largely don’t matter.

“The thing with endorsements by individuals they’re inherently ambiguous because the voter doesn’t know why the endorser is endorsing the candidate,” Kobach said, adding that “there’s only one individual endorsement who really moves votes and that’s the president.”

The race between Marshall and Kobach has intensified since Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week that he plans to stay out of the race.

Trump’s call with Kobach was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Kansas Senate race: Kobach spoke with Trump, same day president met with Marshall."