Anti-Trump Republicans target McCarthy, Scalise, other high-profile conservatives

A coalition of anti-Trump Republicans released a list of GOP lawmakers it plans to target in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (La.) and other high-profile conservatives.

The Renew America Movement (RAM), which was formed by a group of moderates within the Republican Party after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said its list of “dividers” includes “13 infamous conspiracy theorists, overt white nationalists, and prominent election deniers” who have “posed a threat to a healthy democracy and a well-functioning republic.”

Also on the list are Republican Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Bob Good (Va.), Burgess Owens (Utah), Madison Cawthorn (N.C.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Scott Perry (Pa.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.).

“We’re ready to fight back against the tide of extremism,” the group wrote in a tweet. “These are the #Dividers, and we’re working to evict them from people’s House next November.”

We’re ready to fight back against the tide of extremism. These are the #Dividers, and we’re working to evict them from people’s House next November. pic.twitter.com/eEqEzyDvrp

— Renew America Movement (@RenewAmerica) October 27, 2021

The coalition said in a statement that it will campaign directly in the races of the candidates it is targeting and is “actively recruiting and reaching out to primary opponents in order to build a network of principled opposition and provide honorable alternatives for voters.”

All 13 GOP lawmakers RAM is targeting voted to overturn the 2020 Electoral College results in January and voted against impeaching former President Trump for a second time.

RAM’s announcement of the Republican lawmakers it will work to oust from office comes nearly two weeks after the group endorsed a slate of Democrats and centrist Republicans as they prepare to wage reelection bids next year.

Among the GOP lawmakers who received an endorsement from the group were Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), both of whom have been vocal in their criticism of Trump.

They both voted to impeach Trump in January and are the only two Republicans serving on the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, which was incited by a pro-Trump mob in an effort to stop the certification of November’s presidential election results.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment in February, also received an endorsement from the coalition.

The group also threw its support behind 11 Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) and Reps. Abigail Spanberger (Va.) and Jared Golden (Maine).

Miles Taylor, RAM’s co-founder and acting executive director, said the group is “mobilizing a principled movement” to confront the listed GOP lawmakers.

“Liars, conspiracists, and authoritarians have no place in America’s politics today. But sadly, they have been given a free home in the modern Republican Party, and hold several seats at the head of the GOP table. RAM is mobilizing a principled movement to confront these dividers head on, and prove that their deceit and corruption won’t be tolerated by the American people,” Taylor said in a statement.

“We will shine a bright light on them not from the progressive left but from the principled center – Republicans, independents and centrist Democrats who will not allow these dividers to go unchecked,” he added.

Politico first reported on the RAM “dividers” list.