President Donald Trump on Thursday threw his support behind his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who is considering a run for Senate in his home state of New Hampshire.

Trump praised Lewandowski as �a very outstanding guy� in an interview on the �New Hampshire Today� radio show before an evening rally in the state. Trump said he thought Lewandowski would be hard to beat if he decides to challenge Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

�Well, first of all, I have to tell you that I think he would be fantastic. He�s got great energy. He�s terrific on television … He�s a really good guy,� Trump said in the interview. While he said he didn�t think Lewandowski had made up his mind yet, Trump said that, �If he ran, he would be a great senator� and �hard to beat.�

The comments came hours before the House Judiciary Committee announced it was subpoenaing Lewandowski and an ex-White House aide as part of its investigation into Trump�s conduct in office. Lewandowski responded in a tweet saying it was �sad and pathetic� that the committee�s Democratic chairman, Rep. Jerry Nadler, �is harassing private citizens.�

Two prominent Republicans already have announced campaigns to challenge Shaheen: Retired Brig. Gen. Don Bolduc and former New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O�Brien.

Chris Ager, chairman of the Hillsborough County Republican Committee, said he would remain neutral in the Senate primary, but loves Lewandowski and the two candidates who have already announced.

�He�s a local guy, I�d say �one of us,�� Ager said of Lewandowski. �So I think if he decided to run he�d be a legitimate, formidable candidate.�

But former New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, a Republican who served as governor before becoming a senator, disagreed.

�He�s a thug,� Gregg was quoted telling the local NH Journal. �He�s part of Trump�s cadre of thugs. If he were to run and become the nominee, it would be an outrage.�

Lewandowski has long been a lightning rod for criticism, but also unshakably loyal to Trump. He served as the president�s first campaign manager, leading the small, ramshackle team that helped Trump defy critics and win the Republican nomination with the motto, �Let Trump be Trump.� And he remained closed with the president � to the dismay of many � even after he was fired from the job after clashing with now-jailed strategist Paul Manafort and the president�s children. There was also an incident in which he was charged with misdemeanor battery for grabbing a reporter�s arm at an event. The charge was later dropped.

Since Trump�s election, he has been a frequent visitor to the White House, sometimes fueling speculation of potential job offers, and is often spotted at Trump�s campaign events, sometimes flying aboard Air Force Once.

Now, Trump seems to be paying him back.

�If he ran and won he�d be a great senator. He would be great for New Hampshire. He�d be great for the country,� Trump said in the interview. �He has got a tremendous drive and that drive would be put to the people of New Hampshire�s benefit and the country�s benefit.�

Asked about a possible Lewandowski run during an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she though he could �absolutely� win. But Republican hopes of winning Shaheen�s seat took a blow back in May when the state�s leading Republican, Gov. Chris Sununu, opted to run for re-election to the governor�s office instead of challenging Shaheen.

In 2014, Shaheen fended off a close challenge from Republican Scott Brown, who had earlier served as a senator from neighboring Massachusetts, and won by roughly 3 points.

Asked by a reporter earlier this month if Lewandowski is qualified to serve in the U.S. Senate, Shaheen said she was �going to stay focused on what we need to do in New Hampshire.�

New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Josh Marcus-Blank was quick to offer pushback, calling Lewandowski a �shadow lobbyist with a nefarious client list that includes foreign interests.�

�Lewandowski, with his record of violence, will make an already nasty Republican primary even worse,� he said.

Both Trump and then-New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte narrowly lost the state in 2016. Republicans in New Hampshire have largely embraced Trump since, though critics of the president remain. Trump�s only prominent primary challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, has focused much of his 2020 effort campaigning in New Hampshire.

Aside from the president�s approval, Lewandowski�s potential bid did not elicit strong views either way from other party leaders in Washington, even as he was subpoenaed Thursday to testify publicly about Trump�s potential obstruction of the special counsel probe.

Nationally, Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are expected to stay out of the GOP primary in New Hampshire, according to a top Senate Republican strategist, seeing it as a local decision.

That�s in large part because the outcome in New Hampshire largely depends on Trump, the strategist said. While Republicans see vulnerabilities for Shaheen, they view the Senate race as a coattails contest, in which the GOP candidate�s fate will depend on Trump�s performance in the state.

(AP)