Rep. Justin Amash on Thursday brushed off a primary threat from a Trump administration staffer, saying “I am not worried about it.”
“My constituents know what I stand for,” Mr. Amash said at a House Freedom Caucus forum hosted by Politico.
“They want someone who is independent. They want someone who is going to stand up for all of them, and someone who is going to follow the Constitution, uphold the rule of law, defend liberty,” the Michigan Republican said. “They have that person in Congress right now.”
The House Freedom Caucus became the face of the conservative opposition to the health care bill that President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan failed to usher through Congress last month.
Dan Scavino Jr., a senior adviser to Mr. Trump, took aim at Mr. Amash after GOP leaders failed to get enough buy-in from members of the House Freedom Caucus and more moderate members of the Republican caucus.
“.@realDonaldTrump is bringing auto plants & jobs back to Michigan. @justinamash is a big liability. #TrumpTrain, defeat him in primary,” Mr. Scavino wrote on Twitter.
Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said Thursday it was “highly inappropriate” for a member of the Mr. Trump’s staff to make that sort of threat.
“It is one thing for the president to do it, and legally he is allowed to do it, but it is very different for a staffer to use his official capacity to do that,” Mr. Meadows, North Carolina Republican, said.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio said that he and fellow members of the Freedom Caucus are prepared to campaign for Mr. Amash if he faced a primary challenge.
“I would do everything I can to help him,” Mr. Jordan said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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