U.S. Senate candidate Ted Budd is scheduled to be in Mar-a-Lago today for a “Magapalooza” to buddy up to and fundraise with Donald Trump, just one day after the former president praised Putin. Reporting has described Trump’s pro-Kremlin statements as a “giddy rush to side with a foreign leader who is proving to be an enemy of the United States.”

“Ted Budd was desperate for Trump’s endorsement and has gone out of his way to remain loyal to him at all costs — now that means bumping shoulders in Mar-a-Lago just one day after the former president called Putin’s decisions ‘genius’ and ‘savvy,” said NCDP spokesperson Kate Frauenfelder. “If Budd can’t condemn Trump for praising Putin as he invades Ukraine, how can North Carolinians expect him to keep U.S. alliances and global influence strong in the U.S. Senate?”