President Trump mocked Rep. Mark Sanford at a South Carolina rally on Monday for his failure to notch a victory in the state’s Republican primary earlier this month.
Sanford suffered a surprising defeat by insurgent GOP candidate Katie Arrington, who Trump endorsed just hours before the June 13 primary, despite requests from congressional Republican leaders not to get involved in the race.
Arrington was severely injured in a car wreck over the weekend, but is expected to make a full recovery before the November midterm election.
“She was out there campaigning against a guy I’ve never liked too much. Never liked him too much,” Trump said of Sanford, whose steadfast criticism of the administration has set him apart from his colleagues in the conservative House Freedom Caucus.
“The Tallahassee Trail — must be a beautiful place. Unfortunately, he didn’t go there,” Trump said in a botched reference to the Appalachian Trail, a nod to a scandal in 2009 when Sanford, who was South Carolina governor at the time, disappeared for a few days claiming he was hiking in the mountains, but was instead visiting his mistress in Argentina.
The president’s criticism of Sanford comes just days after the South Carolina Republican criticized Trump in a Washington Post op-ed for allegedly imposing a loyalty test for GOP incumbents seeking his endorsement.
“I wasn’t Trump enough in the age of Trump — and so indeed I lost,” he wrote.
[Related: Mark Sanford: Trump’s attacks on me were intended to send a ‘chilling message’ to colleagues]
