Trump Uses Telerally to Boost Degenfelder’s Wyoming Governor Bid

President Donald Trump held a telephone rally Thursday afternoon for Megan Degenfelder, his endorsed pick for Wyoming’s next governor, urging voters in a state that gave him his widest margin of victory in 2024 to back her Republican primary bid.

The roughly 15-minute call opened with Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” a departure from the mix of rock, pop and show tunes typically played at Trump’s in-person rallies. “So get out and vote for Megan Degenfelder,” Trump told listeners. “And you’re going to be happy. You’re going to say, ‘President Trump gave me a good idea.’ You’ll look back in the years and you’ll say, ‘That was a great, a great choice.'”

About 20,600 people tuned into the telerally, according to Degenfelder’s campaign — roughly twice the turnout at Trump’s 2022 in-person rally in Casper, where he backed Harriet Hageman against then-Rep. Liz Cheney. It is not clear how many participants Thursday were registered Wyoming voters, though the campaign said most joined after answering an inbound call rather than dialing in themselves.

Degenfelder, Wyoming’s superintendent of public instruction, is competing for the Republican nomination against Sen. Eric Barlow of Gillette, Col. Brent Bien of Cody and Curt Blake of Centennial, who is running what has been described as a “word-of-mouth” campaign. Trump endorsed Degenfelder in January, before she formally launched her campaign. Since then, the state Republican Party endorsed Bien in July, and Barlow released internal polling two weeks ago showing him with what his campaign described as a comfortable lead.

Degenfelder thanked Trump for his support during the call and outlined what she described as the stakes of the governor’s race. Trump also reminded listeners of the primary’s timeline. “Early voting is happening right now, and it ends on Monday, Aug. 17,” he said. “So you have just 11 days to go out and vote early, and you can also vote on Election Day.”

The Republican nominee will face Democratic candidate Kenneth Casner of Casper and Constitution Party candidate Rebecca Bextel of Jackson in November’s general election. Bextel has described her campaign as an “insurance policy” against Barlow and has said she would withdraw if he loses the primary to either Degenfelder or Bien.

By: Montana Newsroom wire