August 27, 2018 03:21 PM UTC

Gardner Goes to Bat for "President Trump’s America First Agenda"

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Sen. Cory Gardner and President Trump are best buds these days — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Colorado Senator Cory Gardner blasted out an urgent fundraising appeal over the weekend, stating:

Gardner: Your contribution is vital to the future of President Trump’s America First agenda. With your support, we will strengthen our Senate Majority. Will you step up and make a contribution today?

Gardner emailed the plea to fellow Republicans in his role as the Chair of a GOP committee that’s in charge of electing U.S. Senators in the November election.

Republicans hold a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate currently, but both the senate chamber and the U.S. House of Representatives could change to Democratic control in November — an outcome Gardner referenced in his fundraising appeal in an effort to create sense of urgency.

Gardner: Democrats are spending millions on negative and misleading attack ads in their attempt to win back the Senate in 2018. The stakes are too high, and time is running out. We have 5 days until our crucial fundraising deadline, and we are well short of our goal. Pitch in NOW to help us DEFEND the Republican Majority! Senate Republicans are counting on you to step up and help us win in November!

The email promised that all donations would be matched by four times, though the source of the matching funds wasn’t indicated, and Gardner’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Gardner has indicated that he will give up his leadership of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) after the upcoming election to focus on his own re-election in Colorado in 2020.

Asked this year if he was planning to run again for his current U.S. Senate leadership position, in which he’s charged with electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate, Gardner told The Hill, a Washington DC publication, “I am going to be focused on 2020.”  This was interpreted as a sign that he would give up the position, which gives Gardner a seat at the Republican leadership table in the U.S. Senate.

In June, Gardner told conservatives at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver that Republicans will be able to confirm scores of judges if they can retain control of the U.S. Senate in November.

Gardner said the “media is afraid of this,” and they “want us to fail.”

Since then, Trump nominated U.S. District Judge Brett Kavanaugh to serve in the U.S. Supreme Court, and Gardner has fully endorsed the conservative, after refusing to meet with Obama’s Supreme Court selection, Merrick Garland, prior to the 2016 election.

Gardner’s critics say he tries to present himself as independent-minded about Trump’s agenda, while backing the president in under-the-radar fundraising appeals and voting with the mogul over 90 percent of the time.