Nine out of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over the incident in the US capital on January 6 are facing primary challenges from America First candidates.
Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Tom Rice (R-SC), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Fred Upton (R-MI), Peter Meijer (R-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA) are all expecting primary challenges from Republicans.
“Trump vows to work against those Republicans as they run for reelection in 2022, and has already endorsed one primary challenger and signaled there are more to come,” Fox News reported.
“Instead of attacking me and, more importantly, the voters of our movement, top establishment Republicans in Washington should be spending their energy in opposing Biden, Pelosi, Schumer and the Democrats,” Trump said in his February CPAC speech, “Get rid of them all,” he said of the Republicans who voted to impeach him,” the outlet wrote.
Rep. John Katko (R-NY) is the only Republican who has yet to encounter an America First challenger despite his support for impeachment. In May, Katko collaborated with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to create a commission to investigate the January 6 incidents. In the end, the commission failed in the Senate.
The Republican primary fight with pro-Trump candidates show up as Trump meets with Rep. Jim Banks (R-ID) on Thursday to map out a strategy for retaking the House.
“We believe we take back the majority by focusing on the Trump agenda, and President Trump plays a big role in that. He’s obviously planning to go out and hit the road and campaign for candidates who share our vision, and we were excited to talk to him about that,” Rep. Banks stated in the meeting.
Many America First Republicans may have a strong chance of winning their general election in November 2022 if they beat those who impeached Trump, since vulnerable Democrats are unwilling to mention the former president and his agenda, according to report.
“The former president is now a private citizen, and it appears our justice system is handling whatever potential misdeeds he may or may not have committed,” said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who faces a difficult reelection battle due to redistricting measures in her state.
Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) said she is “focused on substantive issues. Not just retribution for a failed, corrupt president.”
“I’ve never been obsessed with going after former President Trump,” she added.
Chris Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, emphasized the Democrats’ approach.