Conservatives of all stripes were quick to push back against President Donald Trump after he attacked GOP Congressman Chip Roy, accusing the Texas representative of “a race to the bottom with the radical left” in an effort to build a name for himself.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida took to Twitter, branding the attack “idiotic.”
“Chip Roy is a principled, conservative fighter. No one should attack him simply because he’s willing to stand up for his beliefs. This is idiotic,” Rubio tweeted.
Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska echoed Rubio’s comments, saying that “attacking conservatives is a really stupid way to get stronger.”
Trump has been vocal in his support for primary challenges to Republicans he believes are pretending to be conservative while secretly voting for liberal policies.
In his tweet, Trump called for a primary challenge against Roy: “I hope the Texas GOP won’t allow his disloyalty to our wonderful policies and the American people. He should be immediately challenged or removed from office.”
Conservative columnist Erick Erickson firmly rejected Trump’s call to oust Roy from office, saying “no one can fix broken moral compasses” before adding that “there are subtleties to governance that this president and his base miss because they don’t even know that they miss them.”
Other conservatives were similarly disappointed and frustrated at Trump’s attack on Roy, agreeing that the president was wrong to issue a thinly-veiled call for Roy to face a primary challenge.
