{"id":2663576,"date":"2026-09-17T19:07:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/todd-blanche-rises-to-political-stardom-as-top-campaign-surrogate\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T19:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:07:38","slug":"todd-blanche-rises-to-political-stardom-as-top-campaign-surrogate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/todd-blanche-rises-to-political-stardom-as-top-campaign-surrogate\/","title":{"rendered":"Todd Blanche rises to political stardom as top campaign surrogate"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftodd-blanche-rises-to-political-stardom-as-top-campaign-surrogate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2663576&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Attorney General Todd Blanche,previously President Trump&#8217;s personal attorney,has taken a notably political role,emphasizing the Republican crime agenda ahead of the midterms. Appointed acting attorney general in April and confirmed in August, Blanche has rapidly become a prominent figure campaigning for Trump\u2019s policies.Insiders praise his messaging skills and effectiveness, especially on crime reduction, and note his willingness to appear publicly at political events, including a White House press conference and a speech at the midterm convention. His political behavior has raised concerns among historians, who compare his actions to controversial figures like John Mitchell, citing risks of politicizing the Justice Department and undermining its independence.The Justice Department asserts Blanche&#8217;s political appearances are made in a personal capacity and adhere to ethical guidelines, with no official DOJ business involved.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attorney General <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4549089\/is-todd-blanche-acing-attorney-general-job-interview\/\">Todd Blanche<\/a> is stepping outside the traditional norms of the Justice Department to become a top political attack dog for Republicans in the homestretch before the midterm elections. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blanche, formerly President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4724131\/white-house-trump-5000-dividend-talks-with-lawmakers\/\">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> personal attorney, replaced Pam Bondi as acting attorney general in April of this past year after serving as her deputy for Trump\u2019s first year back in office. He was confirmed and formally sworn into the permanent post in August and has quickly become the face of President Donald Trump\u2019s tough-on-crime agenda.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trumpworld insiders tell the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that Blanche\u2019s rise comes as no surprise, viewing him as one of the strongest messengers for Trump\u2019s agenda. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve got the lowest murder rate since 1900,\u201d one veteran GOP operative, who works closely with Trump\u2019s outside political operation, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cPam Bondi just sucked at messaging. In a Cabinet full of bad communicators, he\u2019s one of the few good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They added that Blanche has never been camera-shy and wants the spotlight. \u201cWhy else would he have taken on Donald Trump as a client?\u201d the source said, noting that the attorney general sat ringside at the Ryan Garcia-Connor Benn fight Saturday night in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another insider concurred, arguing that it\u2019s not his fealty to the president that\u2019s made him a mainstay on the campaign trail but his effectiveness.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe thing with Todd isn\u2019t that he\u2019s this loyal foot soldier \u2014 he\u2019s effective,\u201d said one former senior Trump <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4731334\/white-house-non-tariff-pressure-trade-deals-china\/\">White House<\/a> official. \u201cYes, he and President Trump have a close relationship, but it\u2019s more than that. Ultimately, the president wants to be tough on crime, and Todd is delivering the goods. It makes sense that he\u2019s going to be put out there to make sure voters know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A second former senior Trump White House official told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that it\u2019s a \u201cno-brainer\u201d that Blanche has been front and center on the campaign trail, specifically communicating Trump\u2019s \u201crecord on crime directly to voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Blanche\u2019s speaking portfolio has quickly surpassed the purview of a typical attorney general and is straying into overtly political territory, drawing concerns from presidential historians. In the past week alone, he held a solo press conference at the White House, delivered a primetime speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, and traveled to North Carolina to rally for Republican U.S. Senate nominee Michael Whatley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In each appearance, Blanche touted the Trump administration\u2019s crime crackdown, but three presidential historians told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that Blanche\u2019s \u201cbold political behavior\u201d follows in the footsteps of John Mitchell, former President Richard Nixon\u2019s campaign chairman, who would later serve as attorney general and went on to be jailed for his role in the Watergate scandal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell Riley, professor and cochair of the Presidential Oral History program at the University of Virginia\u2019s Miller Center, said that \u201cit\u2019s not as though there are not people who have had close and very personal relationships with presidents,\u201d pointing to both Mitchell and Robert F. Kennedy Sr., who served as attorney general under his brother, former President John F. Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you have a political person in the Agriculture Department, if you have a political person in the Labor Department, even if you have a political person in the Defense Department, it does not have the same gravity and the same consequences as it does if you have a highly political person in the Justice Department,\u201d Riley said, \u201cbecause it means that that there is forever the opportunity for the abuse of the law against the president\u2019s political opponents and to advantage his political supporters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow can an attorney general go before a podium in the White House and offer political commentary, and at the same time assure the American people that politics does not and will not intrude on their decisions about the deployment of equal justice under law?\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allan Lichtman, distinguished professor of history at American University and author of the forthcoming <em>Great American Presidents: The Twelve Who Transformed the Nation<\/em>, agreed with sentiments voiced by former Trump White House officials and suggested that Blanche has been increasingly \u201cout front\u201d because \u201che has the president\u2019s trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lichtman clarified that, in his view, Blanche is, \u201creally, since the bad old days of Watergate, the most blatantly political attorney general we\u2019ve had by a wide margin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe more disturbing element of this, of course, is it\u2019s another example of the breakdown between what should be an independent justice system and the political imperatives of the White House. If you merge the two, as we\u2019re seeing happening here, you lose confidence in you know the supposedly blind justice of federal law enforcement,\u201d he added, noting the \u201cFreudian slip\u201d during Blanche\u2019s confirmation hearing where he referred to himself as \u201c[Trump\u2019s] lawyer\u201d despite having worked at the Justice Department for over a year at that point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4731334\/white-house-non-tariff-pressure-trade-deals-china\/\"><strong>WHITE HOUSE SEEKS NON-TARIFF PRESSURE TO ENFORCE BILATERAL TRADE DEALS WITH CHINA, OTHERS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House declined to comment on this story. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Justice Department spokesperson told the <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>that \u201cAttorney General Blanche\u2019s appearances at political events are made in his personal capacity.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis appearances are reviewed and cleared by the Department\u2019s ethics officials. Travel expenses are reimbursed by the Attorney General in accordance with federal law, regulations, and policies,\u201d that person wrote in a statement, noting that Blanche did not use DOJ statistics or verbiage, avoided discussing DOJ policies or official business, and did not engage in any political fundraising.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Todd Blanche shifts role, becomes GOP midterm attack dog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2645,"featured_media":2663577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26260029767987-1.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4087,5894,84058],"class_list":["post-2663576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-campaign","tag-politics","tag-surrogate-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/AP26260029767987-1.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663576"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663580,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663576\/revisions\/2663580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}