Colorado Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe O'Dea said Sunday he does not want to see former President Donald Trump run for office again in 2024, as he disagrees with Trump's statements that he'd pardon people involved in the Jan. 6 incidents at the Capitol if he ran and won again.
He also doesn't want President Joe Biden to seek reelection.
"I disagree with our former president," O'Dea said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I wouldn't give pardons to anybody who's violent. We need to hold people accountable. That should never happen again."
He also, when asked if he would welcome Trump to hold a rally to support him, told show host Chuck Todd that probably won't happen, as he is the only Republican Senate candidate whom Trump has not endorsed.
"He's probably not going to send me a Christmas card," O'Dea said. "I don't want to see him run again. I don't want to see Joe Biden run again. I think that tears our country apart, and I think I'm where most Americans are."
O'Dea, however, has promoted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential candidate, and on Sunday said he agrees with him and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for sending immigrants to northern cities like New York City and Washington, D.C., to bring visibility to the migration situation.
"We have fentanyl killing our kids," said O'Dea, adding that while there are people who are calling the governors' actions cruel, "you know what's cruel? Democrats are ignoring this issue while our kids are dying."
O'Dea also said there are Republicans who are not interested in solving the immigration issue, and he believes a bipartisan solution must be reached.
"We need to get the Dreamers citizenship, fix our immigration system and, for dang sure, we need to close this border down," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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