Freedom Caucus leader on White House attacks: 'Tweets and statements and blame don't change facts'

Rep. Justin Amash with Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

published 2 April 2017

President Trump's social media director, Dan Scavino, on Twitter Saturday called for pro-Trump Republicans in Michigan to oust Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), a congressman who has become a vocal libertarian critic of Trump. "@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan," Scavino tweeted. "@justinamash is a big liability.#TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary."

Amash is also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, which helped defeat the American Health Care Act. Trump himself declared his displeasure with the caucus Thursday, tweeting his intention to "fight" the group in 2018, presumably in the primaries.

On Sunday, Freedom Caucus founder Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) hit back. "Tweets and statements and blame don't change facts," he said in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper. "And the facts remain the same. When you look at the [AHCA] document, when you look at the legislation, it doesn't repeal ObamaCare." Of the Scavino tweet, he added, "Justin Amash is a good friend and one of the most principled members of Congress. And, frankly, if he is primaried, I'm going to do everything I can to help him." Amash replied on Twitter, too:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox