Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Trump made fun of Rep. Mark Sanford again. The House Freedom Caucus has had enough.

The Freedom Caucus loves Trump. What happens when Trump goes after one of their own?

President Trump Attends Campaign Rally For SC Gov. McMaster
President Trump Attends Campaign Rally For SC Gov. McMaster
Trump attacks Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) in a South Carolina rally again Monday night.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Rep. Justin Amash’s (R-MI) shouting could be heard through a closed door in the hallway of the Rayburn House office building on Monday night.

For the greater part of an hour, more than a dozen of the House’s most conservative lawmakers, and President Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders in the House Freedom Caucus, had been discussing immigration and other policy priorities.

Then Amash saw a tweet: President Donald Trump was on stage at a rally in South Carolina maligning Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) again. Sanford, a fellow Freedom Caucus member and well-liked member of the House Republican conference, was the second House Republican to lose a reelection primary under Trump earlier this month. The difference with Sanford was that Trump endorsed his primary challenger, Katie Arrington, just hours before the polls closed — a move that caught House Republican leaders by surprise.

“The president is in South Carolina, 100 miles from the district, speaking on the gubernatorial race and for some reason decided to tee off on me again,” Sanford said, leaving the Freedom Caucus meeting Monday. “So this is the fourth time, so this is why Justin brought that up.”

“What’s more important?” Amash could be heard asking, giving his colleagues what many conservative lawmakers have increasingly seen as an impossible choice: defending Trump — even when he lies or bullies a well-liked colleague — or standing up for what’s right?

Sanford, a perennial Trump critic, has become the president’s latest punching bag on Twitter and in private and public speeches.

Most recently, Trump tweeted a bold-faced lie about a recent visit with congressional Republicans, falsely claiming lawmakers cheered when the president made fun of Sanford during a closed-door meeting. The room actually fell silent when Trump mentioned Sanford, several Republican lawmakers in the room confirmed.

Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) said the group would respond to Trump’s latest comments at the South Carolina rally.

“Everybody in there is very supportive of Mark Sanford, and I think that’s one of the things that overwhelmingly they believe that the president is getting bad political advice,” he said, saying he has identified who that adviser is.

But the entire episode is telling of increasing tensions between Trump and House Republicans; the vast majority of congressional Republicans, particularly in the Freedom Caucus, have defended Trump through every scandal, gaffe, and policy misstep. Some even found a way to spin Trump’s comments on Sanford.

“This president has done so many good things for this country, and to take that instance, as unfortunate as it is, [doesn’t] look at the positives that he has done,” Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) said in response to Trump’s tweet lying about Republicans’ reaction to his attacks on Sanford.

Trump doesn’t stick with the Republican Party — he knows Republicans will stick with him.

“Some people say I have the greatest political instinct in 50 years,” Trump said on stage in South Carolina, after mocking Sanford’s 2009 extramarital affair on stage.

Now those instincts are making trouble for his most ardent defenders in Congress.

More in Politics

Podcasts
The Supreme Court abortion pills case, explainedThe Supreme Court abortion pills case, explained
Podcast
Podcasts

How Louisiana brought mifepristone back to SCOTUS.

By Peter Balonon-Rosen and Sean Rameswaram
Politics
Trump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expectedTrump’s China policy is nearly the exact opposite of what everyone expected
Politics

As Trump heads to China, attention and resources are being shifted from Asia to yet another war in the Middle East.

By Joshua Keating
Politics
Are far-right politics just the new normal?Are far-right politics just the new normal?
Politics

Liberals are preparing for a longer war with right-wing populists than they once expected.

By Zack Beauchamp
The Logoff
Flavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA headFlavored vapes doomed Trump’s FDA head
The Logoff

Why Marty Makary is out at the FDA, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters
Politics
Virginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymanderVirginia Democrats’ irresponsible new plan to save their gerrymander
Politics

Democrats just handed the Supreme Court’s Republicans a loaded weapon.

By Ian Millhiser
The Logoff
Can Trump lower gas prices?Can Trump lower gas prices?
The Logoff

What suspending the gas tax would mean for you, briefly explained.

By Cameron Peters