The president has been sharply criticizing Mr. Tester for days, singling out the Democrat while ignoring Republican opposition that had built to Dr. Jackson’s nomination. But Mr. Tester is from a conservative state that in 2016 supported Mr. Trump strongly, giving him 55.6 percent of its votes to 35.4 percent for Hillary Clinton. But Dr. Jackson pulled his nomination on Thursday, when it became clear he was unlikely to be confirmed. A search of government databases turned up no incident that matched that description, the White House said. As it happens, Mr. Tester caught a significant break last year thanks to Mr. Trump: While national Republicans had settled on Ryan Zinke, then a House member, as the strongest possible challenger for Mr. Tester, Mr. Trump chose him to be interior secretary, removing him from the race.

Source: New York Times April 28, 2018 13:43 UTC