Trump is calling on people to challenge a laundry list of Republicans who voted for Biden’s infrastructure bill

OSTN Staff

Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump.

  • Several GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate voted in favor of the infrastructure bill.
  • Nine Republican lawmakers also voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt to Congress.
  • Trump, on Saturday, said he’d back primary challengers to these GOP lawmakers.

Former President Donald Trump said he’d back anyone who challenged a number of Republican lawmakers in the next election, all of which either voted in favor of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill or supported an indictment for Steve Bannon.

“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 Herrara Buetler (challenge accepted), and Chris Smith?” Trump wrote in a statement on Saturday. “You will have my backing.”

Last week, 13 House Republicans, including Bacon, Garbarino, Katko, McKinley, Smith, Upton, and Young joined most Democrats to vote in favor of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened to support primary challengers to Republicans who supported the infrastructure bill. In July, he promised “lots of primaries” against anyone who supported the bill after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’d support it.

Seventeen Republican Senators also supported the bill.

In his statement on Saturday, Trump also took aim at Reps. Anthony Gonzalez, Adam Kinzinger, and Tom Reed, who he said “already QUIT, they are out of politics, hopefully for good.”

All three also voted in favor of the infrastructure bill.

He also took a shot at Rep. Liz Cheney who he said was a “warmonger,” and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who he said was the “Disaster from Alaska.”

Cheney joined Kinzinger, Meijer, Gonzalez, Upton, Katko, Mace, and Herrera Beutler in voting to hold Bannon in criminal contempt of Congress.

Bannon was Trump’s former White House chief strategist and defied a subpoena from the January 6 select committee asking him to hand over documents and give testimony about what happened the day of the deadly riot.

“Saving America starts by saving the GOP from RINOs [Republicans in name only], sellouts, and known losers!” Trump said.

Insider has reached out to Murkowski and Reps. Rice, Katko, Bacon, Young, Upton, Garbarino, Meijer, McKinley, Mace, Herrara Buetler, Kinzinger, Cheney, and Gonzalez for comment. Insider could not reach Reps. Smith and Reed for comment.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: salarshani@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider

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