Conservatives lash out at Trump after he attacks Chip Roy, calls for him to face primary challenge: ‘Idiotic’
Conservatives have slammed President Donald Trump for attacking Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) over the passage of a $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill, with some even calling the President’s words “idiotic” and a sign of Trump’s “disregard for conservatism.”
Trump had tweeted late Saturday night urging Texas Republicans to unseat Roy in the upcoming primary race.
“Texas, we need strong, tough Conservative leadership now. Chip Roy is not the answer. Even Yates, the ultra liberal in charge of Texas Dems agrees. He is weak, lonely and isolated. Chip must be replaced in the primary and Republicans must get behind a real leader. Unfortunate!” the President wrote.
The outburst quickly sparked bipartisan backlash as GOP congressional leaders, along with former Donald Trump officials and multiple conservative organizations, criticized the President’s statement as politically inept and damaging to the Republican agenda.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) tweeted, “Agree with President @realDonaldTrump that Democrats have the wrong agenda for Texas, but the right answer is to elect more Republicans, not attack a conservative Republican who is 100% pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and a valuable member of the Texas delegation.”
Similarly, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted out her support for Roy.
“Rep. Chip Roy is a great colleague. He’s decent and principled, and we don’t agree on everything. But attacking him directly like this is out of line, and I object to it strongly,” she wrote.
The Conservative Union’s Matt Schlapp stated, “The idiotic attack by the President on Chip Roy is harmful to the conservative cause. It cements a disregard for conservatism rooted in the alliance between big government and nationalism. We must keep faith with our ideas, principles, and values or we will become something less than what we are.”
Trump’s comments have been roundly condemned for his disregard for the conservative values of limited government and the rule of law, as well as for setting a dangerous precedent of attacking Republicans in order to get their support.