Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, argued Thursday that it was “highly inappropriate” for a White House staffer to urge the president’s supporters to defeat Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., in a primary contest in 2018.
Meadows made the claim after White House director of social media Dan Scavino, Jr., tweeted that Amash, a Freedom Caucus member, is a “big liability” to implementing Trump’s agenda and called on voters to “defeat him in primary.” The tweet, which came from his non-White House account, was questioned by ethics lawyers on both sides of the aisle who argue it violated the Hatch Act, a federal law that limits political activity by government employees. Meadows echoed those claims and added that he has talked to the White House about the tweet.
“It was highly inappropriate for that to happen, just pure and simple,” Meadows said. “It was highly inappropriate for that to happen, and I’ve shared that with the administration.
“It’s one thing for the president to do it, and legally he’s allowed to do it. But it is very different for a staffer to use his official capacity to do that,” Meadows said at a Politico Playbook breakfast. “It’s just inappropriate.”
The North Carolina Republican, along with other Freedom Caucus members, have been on the receiving end of tweets from the president, specifically over the healthcare bill that failed two weeks ago. He added that he has talked to Trump about the tweets “a number of times,” and reiterated that the Scavino tweet was “not appropriate.”
Amash, who fought off a primary challenge in 2014, said that he isn’t worried by the threat of a primary from anyone, including the White House.
“I’m not worried about it. That’s how I’d respond,” Amash said at the event. “My constituents know what I stand for. They want someone that’s independent. They want someone that’s going to stand up for all of them. They want someone that’s going to follow the Constitution, uphold the rule of law, defend liberty, and they have that person in Congress right now, so I’m not worried about that. Every election, people like to make these threats, and it doesn’t pan out.”
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, defended Amash at the event from the Scavino threat and said Freedom Caucus members and others would campaign on behalf of the Michigan Republican if a primary challenge comes along.
“Justin Amash is one of the most principled members of Congress. If, in fact, there is a primary, I will do everything I can to help him, and I think there are 30-some other members of the Freedom Caucus who will do the same.” Rep. Jim Jordan said. “And frankly, a lot of people outside the Freedom Caucus who will also help him win that race if in fact it happens.”
