As the GOP primary rivals inch closer to the May 17th election, the race is getting more and more heated. Catch up on this week’s infighting, attack ads, and insults topped off by a Trump rally announcement that is sure to pour gasoline on an already fiery primary. 

• The “far from settled” GOP Senate primary has seen an “advertising blitz” as the candidates attack each other over the airwaves. “Another PAC pans McCrory” in a negative ad released this week, piling on the $14 million that Club for Growth plans to spend boosting Budd and attacking McCrory.

• Reporting from WRAL highlighted the “public bickering,” personal attacks, and “tensions” rising in the “heated” GOP Senate primary, including Walker urging voters to be concerned of McCrory’s losing record: “If you can’t win when you have the cover of Donald Trump and [former Lt. Gov.] Dan Forest, and supermajorities in the House, how in the world do you think you can win when you’re the singular focus…” 

• The primary rivals are all criticizing each other’s records – or lack thereof. McCrory called Budd and Walker “Washington insiders who accomplished nothing,” Budd called Walker “Liz Cheney’s lackey” and blamed him for losing the Republican majority in the U.S. House, and Walker questioned Budd’s record as the self-proclaimed “liberal agenda crusher.”

• And the cherry on top of the GOP’s nightmare week, Donald Trump has announced he’s headed to North Carolina for a rally to tout his endorsement of Budd. The last time Trump was in North Carolina he took a “jab” at McCrory: “You can’t pick people who’ve already lost two races, and do not stand for our values.”

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