House

Top Trump aide calls for primary challenge to Freedom Caucus member Amash

President Trump’s director of social media on Saturday called for a primary challenge to defeat House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.).

Dan Scavino Jr. tweeted that Amash is “a big liability” and urged Trump backers to “defeat him in primary.”

“@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary,” he tweeted.

Amash responded Saturday afternoon, arguing that Trump’s agenda and the Washington agenda had merged.

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Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the Freedom Caucus after they withheld support from the GOP’s ObamaCare repeal plan, forcing leadership to abandon the bill.

“The Freedom Caucus will hurt the entire Republican agenda if they don’t get on the team, & fast. We must fight them, & Dems, in 2018!” Trump tweeted.

The president also singled out several Freedom Caucus members in particular, publicly blasting them for not backing the GOP bill. Amash was not among them, though.

“If @RepMarkMeadows, @Jim_Jordan and @Raul_Labrador would get on board we would have both great healthcare and massive tax cuts & reform,” he tweeted.

Updated: 2:10 p.m.