Trump endorses absent Republican incumbent in New Jersey House primary

Tom Kean has been out with a health issue since March. Democrats are sharpening their knives for the general election

• US politics live – latest updates

On the day Donald Trump endorsed him as a tireless advocate for New Jersey’s seventh district, the representative Tom Kean Jr was, as he has been since early March, nowhere to be found.

Kean, a New Jersey Republican, was last seen when he cast a House floor vote on 5 March, and he is running unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary. The Democratic race in his district, meanwhile, has attracted multiple candidates and ample fundraising.