Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC) (screen capture)
Trump Continues Attacks On House Freedom Caucus
President Trump continued attacking the conservative House Freedom Caucus members today on Twitter, writing, “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!”
The fact of the matter is if Trump alienates both the Dems and the Freedom Caucus, he winds up with a minority in the House:
237 House Republicans minus 30-35 Freedom Caucus members minus all Democrats leaves Trump roughly 200 Republicans to work with, which isn’t enough to get anything done.
It would seem to me that if Trump really wanted some kind of leverage over the Freedom Caucus, he would begin negotiating with, and offering real compromises to, Democrats.
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!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 30, 2017
Freedom Caucus members respond:
@realDonaldTrump Freedom Caucus stood with u when others ran. Remember who your real friends are. We’re trying to help u succeed.— Raúl R. Labrador (@Raul_Labrador) March 30, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump it's a swamp not a hot tub. We both came here to drain it. #SwampCare polls 17%. Sad! https://t.co/4kjygV2tdS— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 30, 2017