Jay Batt is a Trump supporter, but don't call him 'Mr. Chairman'

NEW ORLEANS, LA (WVUE) - Jay Batt understands that mistakes happen when running an organization as complicated as a presidential campaign.

However, over two months after mistakenly being named as Donald Trump's Louisiana campaign chair, Batt still struggles to get the word out that he is no such thing. In fact, he will serve as a Trump delegate at this summer's Republican National Convention.

"He's a businessman, and given the fact that we have $19 trillion in debt, I think he's the one who can do something about it," Batt says of his support for Trump.

As one of the bigger Louisiana names among Trump delegates, it is not surprising that the Trump camp in January asked Batt to serve as chairman.

"I was very flattered they were interested, but with my business responsibilities, family responsibilities, I talked it over with my wife and realized I couldn't give it my all," he said.

Batt asked for 24 hours to think it over, but before he could say "no," the campaign announced his appointment.

"My brother, who is a Democrat, called me up and said, 'what's going on?'"

The former New Orleans city councilman said he immediately began getting emails from people who wanted to help, but the feeling was hardly unanimous.

"I was getting emails from people who were saying, 'are you crazy?'"

It took about one week for the campaign to put out a retraction. Even now, Batt says he gets a couple messages or media requests each day. While he remains committed to Trump, Batt says he has always tried to keep his political endeavors separate from his businesses.

"You're in business so you want to appeal to everybody," Batt said. "I don't want to be the face of an organization that may cause detriment to my business partners' well-being or mine."

While he doesn't agree with everything Trump has said, Batt calls the GOP frontrunner, "a man of character and I believe he's going to get the job done."

The GOP National Convention July 18-21 in Cleveland will mark Batt's fourth as a delegate. The 2016 version promises to be a bit more interesting.

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