Trump Releases Pro-Rispone Video In Louisiana Governor Race

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — President Donald Trump is heightening his support for Republican businessman Eddie Rispone in the Louisiana governor's race.

Trump released an endorsement video Thursday urging Louisiana voters to cast their ballots for Rispone and to oust incumbent John Bel Edwards, the Deep South's only Democratic governor.

Early voting in the Nov. 16 election starts Saturday. Polling shows the competition is a tight one.

The Rispone campaign is promoting Trump's video.

In it, Trump calls Edwards a "disaster" and repeats Rispone's claims that he'll lower taxes and car insurance rates, without further details. The president says Edwards will put Second Amendment rights at risk, even though Edwards' positions on gun rights match Trump's and Rispone's stances.

Edwards doesn't criticize Trump, dismissing the president's involvement in the race as Washington partisan politics.