Politics & Government

Lara Trump has a new job, but says she’s still considering North Carolina Senate run

Lara Trump still hasn’t made a decision about running for U.S. Senate from North Carolina in 2022.

But former President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law has found a new job in the meantime — paid contributor for Fox News.

And Trump, a North Carolina native, says her new employer is willing to be flexible if she decides to get in the Senate race as a Republican candidate.

“Fox has been very generous with me,” Trump said Monday morning during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “They have said, look, if that’s something that you ultimately decide to do, they’re going to work with me on that front and make sure that all the rules are followed and we do everything properly. Thank you to the Fox team for allowing me to have the possibility that that’s in the future.”

Trump said she still hasn’t “made a decision but hopefully sometime soon.”

Trump, an N.C. State University graduate, said she grew up in Wrightsville Beach and that her family still lives there. She said she moved to New York about 14 years ago and that’s where she met Eric Trump, the second oldest of Donald Trump’s three sons.

Trump, 38, worked for the Trump reelection campaign in 2020.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, is not running for reelection in 2022. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker is the lone Republican who has joined the race to replace him, though several other prominent Republicans are considering a run.

Several Democrats have already announced their candidacy as well.

A recent Meredith College poll showed Trump as an early favorite in the 2022 GOP field, but she trailed “don’t know” and the poll sample was small. The primary is scheduled for March of 2022.

Trump has been a frequent presence on Fox News for the last five years.

“I sort of feel like I’ve been an unofficial member of the team for so long,” Trump said Monday. “Over the past five years, I would come there so often that the security guards were like, maybe we should give you a key.”

When other Fox News contributors have officially declared for office, the network has cut ties with them. Recent examples include Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former White House press secretary who is now running for Arkansas governor, and former presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Megaphone or wherever you get your podcasts.

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This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 10:21 AM.

Brian Murphy
The News & Observer
Brian Murphy is the editor of NC Insider, a state government news service. He previously covered North Carolina’s congressional delegation and state issues from Washington, D.C. for The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and The Herald-Sun. He grew up in Cary and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. He previously worked for news organizations in Georgia, Idaho and Virginia. Reach him at bmurphy@ncinsider.com.
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