Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), charged with selecting potential 2022 candidates as head of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), said Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should not support primaries against members who voted to impeach him.
“That’s not gonna be helpful,” he said.
According to the report, Emmer plans to speak with Trump about not challenging the established order.
In his Sunday speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump listed a handful of congressional Republicans who opposed him after the 2020 election, urging his supporters to vote them out of office. Former President Trump proceeded to shame the Republicans who continued to publicly oppose him and those who voted with Democrats to convict him in the Senate after he left office.
The list included 17 Republicans:
Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah
Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming
Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina
Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington
Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington
Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan
Rep. John Katko of New York
Rep. David Valadao of California
Trump has been busy screening 2022 midterm candidates who are eager to fight for MAGA policies while ensuring every open Republican seat has a MAGA-approved contender vying for it. The former president has already endorsed Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Bob Paduchik, and Max Miller, who is challenging Gonzalez, one of the 17 members listed above.
Trump has also received dozens of requests from prospective candidates who wish to earn his support, and he is fielding them as he sees fit. Trump has rejected meetings with former ambassador to the United Nations and 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley, as well as with some House and Senate GOP candidates looking to bend his ear.
Formal meetings with prospects could begin as early as March, according to a report.
Trump has returned focus to his movement now that the Senate has fully acquitted him in the impeachment trial, leading the America First agenda into battle against the establishment in Washington, D.C. With $31 million on hand, bankrolled by his Save America leadership PAC, Trump’s coffers will be strategically invested.