NRCC chair cautions Trump against backing primary challenges for Republicans who voted to impeach

NRCC chair cautions Trump against backing primary challenges for Republicans who voted to impeach

“He can do whatever he wants,” Tom Emmer said. “But I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Emmer said Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should back down on attempting to primary GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach him.

“He can do whatever he wants,” Emmer (R-Minn.) said. “But I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

“That’s not gonna be helpful,” the NRCC chair said of Trump weighing in.

Emmer predicted in an interview with POLITICO Playbook authors Eugene Daniels and Rachael Bade that he and Trump will have a conversation “at some point."

With broad support in the Republican Party, Trump still looms large within the GOP and has already begun wading into 2022 primaries. Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend, the former president read off the names of every Republican in the House and Senate who voted to impeach or convict him, pushing to “get rid of them all.”

And last week, Trump endorsed a primary opponent for GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who voted to impeach him. That endorsement came despite aides pushing him to focus on Democrats, not intra-party disputes.

Emmer is among the highest profile House Republicans who have thus far been willing to break with the former president on his support for candidates primarying GOP incumbents.

Emmer said that the NRCC will not openly wade into primaries under his watch, but will provide resources to GOP incumbents as part of an effort to win back a majority in the House, a victory he guaranteed in next year's midterm elections.

The Minnesota lawmaker also further broke with the president, saying that he didn’t believe Congress had the right to object to the certification of the Electoral College votes. Emmer voted to certify the election results.

Emmer said that Congress didn’t have the p... (Read more)

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