Freedom Caucus founder's leaving of group seen as attempt to dump Trump

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) has resigned his membership in the House Freedom Caucus, saying he's leaving the powerful group because of its erroneous association with the Arizona Freedom Caucus, which he described as "much more populist," Newsweek reports.

"There's a difference between conservatism and populism," he told Punchbowl News earlier this month. "These people are operating much more on their passions than protecting all the gains they made in the last couple of years in the state legislature."

"The more difficult thing in my district is actually explaining the difference between my state Freedom Caucus from the federal one," he said. "It's just so hard to explain that they get to use our name, but they're not us."

As Newsweek points out, Schweikert's departure from the House Freedom Caucus comes after he retained his seat in Congress by less than a percentage point against Democrat Jevin Hodge.

Schweikert was endorsed by Trump despite not being one of his most vocal supporters. While he condemned the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, he expressed support for the rioters themselves, saying he felt they were being aggressively prosecuted.

Some conservatives see his departure as an attempt to fashion a more moderate image of himself now that there seems to be a growing backlash against Trumpism. Josh Barnett, a Republican primary candidate who ran against Schweikert and was supported by failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, said Schweikert's departure from the House Freedom Caucus "is just an excuse to become, officially, a part of the establishment uni party."

Read more at Newsweek.