Less than a week after Republican Rep. Mark Sanford went down in the South Carolina primary following a highly critical Trump tweet, political pundits as well as a number of Republicans have begun to ask whether the president will strike at another GOP office-holder seeking renomination.
Last Thursday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders would not say whether the president would oppose any members of Congress in his own party — Sanford representing the first time since 1970 a president has openly opposed a lawmaker of his own party who was seeking re-election.
“I don't have any announcements on any candidates that the president may or may not endorse,” Sanders told Newsmax, “and wouldn't be able to address that from this venue either.”
Sources close to the White House generally agree that most of the GOP primaries in which incumbent U.S. senators or representatives are being challenged have been held and Trump is not likely to weigh in for someone in the remaining contests.
However, the same sources pointed out to us that on June 26, longtime Trump nemesis Mitt Romney will face a primary challenge for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination from conservative State Rep. Mike Kennedy.
Whether Trump will target Romney through Twitter is uncertain.
The last time a president abandoned a member of Congress from his own party was in 1970, when President Nixon issued a statement of approval that New York Conservative Party U.S. Senate nominee James Buckley was more supportive of his policies than liberal incumbent Charles Goodell. Buckley eventually won the three-candidate race.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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