Donald Trump on Friday endorsed a primary challenger to Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president over his role in the Jan. 6 riot.
In a Truth Social post, Trump threw his support behind Jerrod Sessler, a former petty-officer in the Navy who has gone after Newhouse for his impeachment vote.
“Jerrod Sessler is a fantastic candidate and will be a GREAT Congressman for Washington State’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote, while also citing Newhouse’s impeachment vote.
Newhouse’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Most of them, including former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, either decided not to seek another term or lost their re-election bid.
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., is the only other remaining House Republican who backed impeachment for Trump. The former president did not endorse a primary challenger against Valadao.
This is the second time Trump has tried to oust Newhouse, who has served in Congress since 2015. In 2022, Trump backed Loren Culp. Newhouse was helped in part by Washington state’s top-two all-party primary system, in which Culp came in third behind Democrat Doug White, who was later defeated in the general election.
According to his campaign website, Sessler has been endorsed by former Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn and GOP campaign adviser Roger Stone, as well as former Arizona Secretary of State Mark Finchem, an election denier who repeatedly cast doubt on Joe Biden’s presidential victory and falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.
Sessler himself has accused Newhouse of having “betrayed his voters by joining Democrats to impeach President Trump in 2021,” according to materials posted on his campaign website.
In a January post on X, Sessler wrote, “The whole thing was a set up,” referring to the Capitol riot.
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