President Trump slammed Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., hours before the polls close in his primary election, calling him “nothing but trouble” and endorsing his primary opponent Katie Arrington.
[Update: Rep. Mark Sanford loses to Republican primary challenger at Trump’s urging]
“Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!” Trump tweeted.
Mark Sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to MAGA. He is MIA and nothing but trouble. He is better off in Argentina. I fully endorse Katie Arrington for Congress in SC, a state I love. She is tough on crime and will continue our fight to lower taxes. VOTE Katie!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 12, 2018
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., pushed back against Trump’s endorsement of Arrington Tuesday afternoon.
[Trump: I tweeted on South Carolina race because Mark Sanford is ‘so bad’]
“Mark Sanford has been a valued member of the [House] Freedom Caucus and certainly has been a thoughtful member of Congress,” Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told the Washington Examiner. “I am very supportive of his re-election efforts and passage of the tax reform package would not have been possible without his input.”
Sanford, who was elected to the House in 2013, admitted he had an extramarital affair with an Argentine journalist. The South Carolina Republican revealed the affair in a press conference in June 2009 after returning from a covert trip to Argentina.
Sanford hasn’t been shy in criticizing Trump. Last year, for example, he said following the shooting at the Republicans’ baseball practice the president’s violent rhetoric is “a problem.”
A poll released last week put Sanford and Arrington neck-and-neck in the race, as 39 percent of Republican primary voters saying they would back Arrington and 39.7 percent saying they would support Sanford.
