Fox News by Emma Colton
Former President Donald Trump is amping up his battle against “RINOs, sellouts, and known losers” who voted in favor of the infrastructure bill, calling on other Republicans to challenge them in primaries.
“Saving America starts by saving the GOP from RINOs, sellouts, and known losers! In the Senate, the âDisaster from Alaska,â Lisa Murkowski (challenge accepted), must go. There is âalmostâ nobody worse!” Trump said in a statement Saturday night to followers of the Save America PAC.
FILE – In this Nov. 13, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump listens during an event on Operation Warp Speed in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump called for primaries of 11 other representatives in his statement to face primary battles, most of whom voted in favor of the Democratsâ $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill on Nov. 5.
“Any interest from good and SMART America First Republican Patriots to run primary campaigns against Representatives Tom Rice, John Katko, Don Bacon, Don Young, Fred Upton (challenge accepted), Andrew Garbarino, Peter Meijer (challenge accepted), David McKinley (challenge accepted), Nancy Mace, Jaime Herrera Beutler (challenge accepted) and Chris Smith?” he wrote.
Reps. Rice, Meijer and Herrera Beutler were on the list despite voting against infrastructure. Trump did not explain why three House Republicans – Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Jeff Van Drew, and Brian Fitzpatrick – were not included on the list despite voting for the bill.
“You will have my backing!” he told prospective candidates willing to primary the incumbents. “Gonzalez, Kinzinger, and Reed already QUIT, they are out of politics, hopefully for good. Warmonger Liz Cheney (challenge accepted) is on the SKIDS with a 19% approval rating.”
President Donald Trump speaks during a “Rolling to Remember Ceremony,” to honor the nation’s veterans and POW/MIA, from the Blue Room Balcony of the White House, Friday, May 22, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The statement comes after Trump unloaded on the 13 Republicans who voted for the bill during the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner last Monday. Fox News Digital previously confirmed that Trump delivered a lengthy address slamming the 13 representatives, including Maliotakis, who was present at the dinner.
Malliotakis was “visibly shaken” during the dinner, a New York Post reporter said, citing a source at the dinner. She is up for her first reelection next year and explained her vote as one that will “modernize our aging roads” and other infrastructure issues across America.
Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York, speaks during a Select Subcommittee On Coronavirus Crisis hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. A probe by the U.S. Congress into Emergent BioSolutions found that the contract manufacturer failed to address deficiencies in vaccine production at its facilities despite warnings following a series of inspections in 2020. Photographer: Susan Walsh/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Susan Walsh/AP Photo/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“I cast my vote FOR the bipartisan infrastructure bill and AGAINST advancing the socialist spending spree. For far too long our leaders have failed to modernize our aging roads, highways & bridges, upgrade sewer systems & implement flood resiliency projects,” she tweeted on Nov. 6.
I cast my vote FOR the bipartisan infrastructure bill and AGAINST advancing the socialist spending spree. For far too long our leaders have failed to modernize our aging roads, highways & bridges, upgrade sewer systems & implement flood resiliency projects https://t.co/1xT5Ag4AUz
— Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) November 6, 2021
