Kelly Kirschner uses Trump attack as a campaign springboard

‘We just made it: The big man posted on Truth Social that I will be too reckless, radical and dangerous’.

By Johannes Werner

Original Air Date: October 27, 2026

Host: PAC money keeps gushing into attack ads against Kelly Kirschner for Congress. And now the Big Guy himself attacked the former Sarasota mayor, who is running for the District 16 U.S. House seat.

Johannes Werner: In a Truth Social post Monday night, Donald Trump called Kirschner “a Radical Left Democrat.” Trump wrote that Kirschner is opposed to tax legislation that exempts some tips, overtime and Social Security payments.

“If he and the Dumocrats ever got in, all of these things will be terminated. He wants massive Tax Increases, Open Borders, Men playing in Women’s Sports, and Transgender Mutilization of your Children. Kelly Kirschner is Reckless, Radical, and Dangerous!”

Kirschner responded with a video on social media. Seemingly wearing pajamas, he ended it with a pitch to contribute to his campaign.

Kelly Kirschner

Kelly Kirschner: Our call time manager told me we just made it: The big man has posted on Truth Social that I will be too “reckless, radical and dangerous” once elected to Congress. I think what’s too “reckless, radical and dangerous” is what we’ve been living through for the past two years and what people are suffering through, particularly in this congressional district. What we do know is that, when that big man is tweeting like this—when Laura Loomer is sending out not one, not two but three articles—when the chair of the National Republican Party is talking on national TV about our slogan and criticizing that we want to fix things, we know that we are on the verge of flipping this seat and winning this seat. When we have their attention—we need your attention, though, because we are being inundated with artificial intelligence slop of lies that they are spewing against us when what they know is we are building a big tent coalition of Republicans, Independents and Democrats from across the spectrum that are taking our country back.

JW: Asked mid-day Tuesday about whether the Trump tweet had an effect on his campaign contributions, Kirschner said it was too early to tell.

PAC-funded mailers attacking Kelly Kirschner have flooded mailboxes of voters in District 16, which covers Manatee County and eastern Sarasota County, among others.

Much of the funding for the attack mailers comes from the political operation of Joe Gruters. He’s the husband of Sydney Gruters, Kelly Kirschner’s opponent.

PAC-funded mailers attacking Kirschner

Joe Gruters chairs the Republican National Committee. Friends of Joe Gruters, a PAC affiliated with the former state senator, has transferred close to $2 million to Conservatives for American Excellence. That’s the Las Vegas-based super PAC responsible for most of the mailers and a barrage of TV ads attacking Kelly Kirschner. 

Reporting for WSLR News, Johannes Werner.

Read about our analysis of Kirschner’s and Gruters’ campaign finances here.

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