Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said that the Republicans in Congress who oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda have “become part of the swamp.”
Duncan also said that the American people elected Trump because of that agenda and Congress should help him accomplish his campaign promises, including repealing and replacing Obamacare, securing the U.S. border with Mexico, rebuilding the military and tax reform.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Duncan wrote about lawmakers who have attacked the president, specifically Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ) and Bob Corker (R-TN).
“Parroting late night talk show hosts so you can become endeared by the Washington establishment doesn’t make you some kind of hero, brave, or even a statesman,” Duncan wrote. “It means that you think you know better than the people who elected you, or have become susceptible to self-promotion and flattery.”
Duncan said the media loved Flake’s anti-Trump speech on the Senate floor but failed to report the reason he gave it — he was vacating his seat because he could not win reelection.
“Why?” Duncan wrote. “Because the people support President Trump and his agenda, and Senator Flake does not. He has taken it upon himself to say that when it comes to immigration, trade, border security, and other issues, he knows what’s best, not the people of Arizona. Is that the mentality of a public servant? I certainly don’t think so.”
“When I came to Washington, I said I wasn’t going to drink the water up here,” Duncan wrote. “I had no interest in becoming part of the Swamp. I made it very clear that I was here to represent the people of South Carolina, not to make friends.”
Flake, on the other hand, has drunk the water and is part of the swamp, Duncan wrote.
“He screwed up by abandoning the conservative principles that got him elected and now he wants to blame President Trump?” Duncan said. “Give me a break.”
Then Duncan wrote something that most Americans who voted for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are also wondering.
“Imagine what we could accomplish as a country if Republicans in the House and Senate actually supported the president and his mandate?” Duncan wrote. “A more secure nation, a stronger military, tax reform, economic growth, and job creation.”
“It’s time to support President Trump and his agenda for the people,” Duncan wrote.
Then Duncan followed up on Thursday in response to the “Trump haters” who commented on his Wednesday post.
Duncan wrote that even if you don’t like Trump that should not stop a duly elected president from achieving his agenda.
“Donald J. Trump, now the 45th President of the United States, ran on a simple Make America Great Again agenda,” Duncan wrote. “The American people didn’t embrace someone they hoped would be a Nobel Peace Prize-winning, smooth talking, appeasement-minded apologist of the historical American greatness.”
“The American people elected President Trump, knowing full-well his non-traditional methods and actions,” Duncan wrote. “It is time for the anti-Trump Republicans to get over it and embrace, not the POTUS, but the AGENDA that the American people support and voted for.”
The State newspaper in South Carolina wrote about Duncan’s Facebook posts, or about at least a small part of what he wrote. But it also included reaction to Duncan’s posts from the Democrat who will be vying for his seat:
Duncan’s Democratic opponent in next year’s 3rd District congressional race, Mary Geren, told the Anderson Independent Mail she was “totally shocked,” adding Duncan “will stop at nothing to defend an administration that has been overrun by incompetence, corruption, cruel policies, and recklessness.”
Geren said Trump’s GOP critics “are standing up for all Americans and putting country before party.”