{"id":2383262,"date":"2024-12-24T04:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T09:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-frets-cannibalizing-ourselves-with-primaries-for-bucking-trump\/"},"modified":"2024-12-24T04:27:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-24T09:27:28","slug":"gop-frets-cannibalizing-ourselves-with-primaries-for-bucking-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gop-frets-cannibalizing-ourselves-with-primaries-for-bucking-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP frets \u2018cannibalizing ourselves\u2019 with primaries for bucking Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgop-frets-cannibalizing-ourselves-with-primaries-for-bucking-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2383262&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses concerns within the Republican Party regarding the repercussions of primary challenges instigated by former \u2063President Donald Trump and his supporters, particularly targeting members who oppose\u200c him or his agenda. Several Republican senators, including Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, expressed \u200bapprehension that\u200b such threats \u200bcould derail the\u200b party&#8217;s\u200d ambitions to implement a unified agenda, framing\u200b it \u200bas a habit of &#8220;cannibalizing ourselves.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s\u2064 comments about primarying\u2063 lawmakers who \u200bdisagree \u2064with him have raised alarm, as\u2063 it \u2064complicates the\u200b party\u2019s\u200b strategy for confirming\u200b nominees \u200band maintaining \u2063unity.\u200b The campaign arm of Senate Republicans aims to continue\u200d supporting incumbents, \u2064emphasizing the necessity of keeping the party cohesive.<\/p>\n<p>Elon \u2063Musk has also entered the \u200cfray,\u2063 announcing\u200b intentions to fund \u200dprimary challengers against Republican\u200c lawmakers who oppose Trump. While some republicans acknowledge that primaries\u2063 are a part of the political landscape,they advocate for \u200blawmakers to vote according \u2064to\u2064 their conscience rather than under duress from\u2063 party factions.the\u200b piece highlights the \u2064growing tension within the \u2064GOP as it grapples \u200dwith balancing loyalty \u200dto Trump and maintaining legislative \u200deffectiveness.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Republicans fret &lsquo;cannibalizing ourselves&rsquo; with primaries for bucking Trump<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1885799\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Republicans are bristling at threats from President-elect Donald Trump and his surrogates to back <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3251955\/trump-allies-threaten-senate-gop-fail-back-nominees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"primary challenges\">primary challenges<\/a> if they cross him on policies or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3234428\/trump-cabinet-scorecard-ranking-nominees-hardest-confirmations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"primary challenges\">Cabinet nominees<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>The repeated warnings of retribution from Trump and MAGA-world before he&rsquo;s even taken office have GOP lawmakers fearing it could undermine <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3263824\/republicans-roadmap-enact-trump-agenda-next-congress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"ambitious plans\">ambitious plans<\/a> to enact his agenda and capitalize on a Republican trifecta.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Republicans are really good at eating their young and cannibalizing ourselves. And here&rsquo;s yet another example,&rdquo; Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;Threatening to primary people who don&rsquo;t think for themselves, it always backfires.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lummis, motioning to Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) as the two shared an elevator in the Capitol, added, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s stupid.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Murkowski, a centrist, fended off a Trump-backed challenger in 2022 and was reelected in 2010 as a write-in candidate after losing her primary. She echoed her more conservative colleague, Lummis.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is stupid,&rdquo; Murkowski nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It never works for us, and I say that as one who doesn&rsquo;t think like her,&rdquo; Lummis continued. &ldquo;We ought to be smart about who our adversaries are, and our adversaries don&rsquo;t come from within.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Primary concerns are a normal aspect of politics, particularly in the age of Trump. But primary threats from the incoming president and his supporters have intensified as senators weigh confirming nominees and House Republicans grappled last week with a Trump-induced revolt over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-pelosi-and-schumer-discuss-next-steps-in-advancing-democrats-legislative-agenda\/\" title=\"Biden, Pelosi, and Schumer Discuss Next Steps in Advancing Democrats\u2019 Legislative Agenda\">bipartisan government funding agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If Republican senators are &ldquo;unreasonable&rdquo; in opposing his nominees, &ldquo;I would say they probably would be primaried,&rdquo; Trump told reporters this month.<\/p>\n<p>On Truth Social, he offered a blunter message to the House Republicans who voted for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-take-victory-lap-after-stopgap-spending-measure-passes-house-maga-republicans-lost\/\" title=\"Democrats celebrate as stopgap spending measure passes House: &#039;MAGA Republicans defeated&#039;\">bipartisan spending agreement<\/a> to avert a shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,&rdquo; Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3266145\/trump-threatens-primary-challenges-chip-roy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"took direct aim at Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)\">took direct aim at Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)<\/a> in a subsequent post, who was one of 38 House Republicans to rebuff a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">separate funding bill backed<\/a> by Trump. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I hope some talented challengers are getting ready in the Great State of Texas to go after Chip in the Primary,&rdquo; Trump wrote. &ldquo;He won&rsquo;t have a chance!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks with reporters at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Evan Vucci)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The campaign arm of Senate Republicans has historically backed incumbents, and party leaders say they&rsquo;re committed to continuing that tradition. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We got to make sure that our team is united,&rdquo; incoming Senate GOP Leader John Thune (R-SD) told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;We have a just newly gained majority, which we want to maintain. And obviously, that means we got to keep Republicans who are running for reelection in office. We&rsquo;ll do everything we can to support our team and make sure those folks are well positioned to win their campaigns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The incoming chair of the campaign arm for Senate Republicans, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), is already in contact with Trump, according to a source familiar with the National Republican Senatorial Committee&rsquo;s thinking. Trump also met with Senate Republicans at the NRSC before the November elections as a show of unity. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Everyone&rsquo;s on the same page,&rdquo; the source said. &ldquo;We want to get four years of a Republican majority so that President Trump can get as much done as possible, and everybody&rsquo;s working together to try and make that a reality.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&lsquo;Any member should be prepared to be primaried&rsquo;<\/h2>\n<p>Elon Musk, the world&rsquo;s richest man and Trump confidant whom Democrats dubbed &ldquo;President Musk,&rdquo; has used his &ldquo;X&rdquo; platform to lead an online army of MAGA enthusiasts chomping at the bit to oust Republicans who stand in Trump&rsquo;s way. The billionaire is vowing to fund primary challengers of GOP lawmakers who cross Trump&rsquo;s nominees.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;How else?&rdquo; Musk recently <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1856845341439496504\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"tweeted\">tweeted<\/a>. &ldquo;There is no other way.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Maybe lawmakers don&rsquo;t deserve to be ousted by someone in their own party for disagreeing with Trump, some Republicans say. But that line is often followed by another seeking to state the obvious: primaries are a fact of politics, and if you can&rsquo;t handle the heat, then get out of the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Any member should be prepared to be primaried in every circumstance,&rdquo; Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s up to the member to cast the votes that their conscience and their constituents want them to cast. And if there&rsquo;s a conflict between those two things, then they have to decide which is more important.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Still, even the most ardent of Trump supporters on Capitol Hill don&rsquo;t appreciate being told to &ldquo;do this &mdash; or else.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think every senator should vote their conscience,&rdquo; said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close Trump ally. &ldquo;We can&rsquo;t let the internet tell us what to do up here.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), up for reelection in 2026, is already facing a primary challenge from Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, a former congressman.<\/p>\n<p>Trump endorsed Cassidy in his 2020 reelection. But then Cassidy voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial for the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. More recently, Cassidy has expressed reservations about some Trump nominees, like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cdc-to-release-revised-guidance-reducing-covid-19-quarantine-time-from-14-days-to-7-10\/\" title=\"CDC to release revised guidance reducing COVID-19 quarantine time from 14 days to 7-10\">human services secretary<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Cassidy downplayed his primary opponent by citing a Biblical scripture, Matthew 6:34.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;That&rsquo;s life. Part of being in politics,&rdquo; Cassidy said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a scripture that keeps going through my mind: Let the day&rsquo;s own troubles be sufficient for the day. Jesus says, &lsquo;Can you add one bit of time to your life by constant worrying?&rsquo; No, you can&rsquo;t. So, I try not to worry. I want to live a long time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Fleming, in an interview with the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, said challengers like him are bound to crop up &ldquo;organically.&rdquo; The question is whether Trump will make an endorsement and if Musk will follow through with financial backing.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The fact that I&rsquo;ve already announced tells you that I&rsquo;m already going to work to earn that, and I think that President Trump is more likely to look upon that even more favorably,&rdquo; Fleming said.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a blue-state centrist Republican who also voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment, ran unopposed in her last two primaries in 2014 and 2020. She&rsquo;s seeking reelection in 2026 to a sixth consecutive term.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), left, confers with Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to examine the cost of prescription drugs, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;Many of us who are in the middle are used to having tough campaigns,&rdquo; Collins told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;[Trump] has the right to recruit whomever he wishes to run.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) is up for reelection in battleground North Carolina, a key seat that is buoying Democrats&rsquo; hopes for clawing back the Senate. Trump endorsed Tillis in 2020 and &ldquo;would expect he&rsquo;ll endorse me again.&rdquo; Despite the focus on him during the confirmation process, Tillis noted he backed all of Trump&rsquo;s first-term nominees. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel any unique pressure,&rdquo; Tillis told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. &ldquo;People have asked me for years what keeps me up at night. I say caffeine.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), also up for reelection in 2026, has been the subject of perhaps the most personal and fierce online attacks from conservatives over her hesitation with defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth is at the center of a series of misconduct allegations, including sexual abuse. Ernst is a survivor of rape and domestic violence.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3224765\/senate-democrats-hope-midterms-2024-downballot\/\"><strong>SENATE DEMOCRATS SEE HOPE FOR MIDTERMS WITH 2024 DOWNBALLOT RESULTS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) revealed he&rsquo;s been the subject of threats beyond that of primary challenges to support Trump&rsquo;s nominees. But he assailed the targeting of Ernst as &ldquo;extremely inappropriate&rdquo; and &ldquo;misinformed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You always got somebody that&rsquo;s kind of off on the wacko side,&rdquo; Rounds said. &ldquo;But the [threats] in particular that I think have been very damaging were the attacks on Joni Ernst because she has been a solid player from day one.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1885799\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1885799\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Republicans worry about &#8216;cannibalizing ourselves&#8217; with Trump primaries<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3108,"featured_media":2383263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/trump-threatens-republican-primary-challenges.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[6203,9973,3634],"class_list":["post-2383262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-gop","tag-primaries","tag-trump"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/trump-threatens-republican-primary-challenges.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2383262"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2383266,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2383262\/revisions\/2383266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2383263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2383262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2383262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2383262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}