Critics scoffed this week as Rep. Michael Baumgartner unveiled his plan for rebuilding House Republicans after Tuesday’s drubbing: stop talking to Jake Sherman.
The freshman Washington Republican spent Thursday on X demanding that anyone seeking his vote in the House GOP leadership races deliver a plan to stop leaks from the party’s closed-door meetings. Then he named a reporter.
“The slimiest member of the DC press corps who conspires with low integrity attention seekers to leak strategies being discussed in House Republican meetings is Jake Sherman,” Baumgartner wrote, targeting the Punchbowl News co-founder.
He said any leadership hopeful who wants his vote must refuse Sherman interviews, on or off the record, for as long as Sherman, in Baumgartner’s telling, keeps leaking the conference’s private meetings. He added that anyone who cares more about appearing in Punchbowl than protecting colleagues’ confidentiality is unfit for leadership and shouldn’t call themselves a patriot.
In a separate post, he said he would ask conservative policy groups to name and score members who give reporters inside access, and would urge conservative voters and donors to contact members who aren’t on board with stopping the leaks.
The outburst comes as Republicans scramble for leadership posts after a crushing defeat cost them the House.
The reaction was swift and mostly mocking.
“GOP didn’t lose the midterms because of Jake Sherman,” Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson wrote.
The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey suggested Sherman should frame Baumgartner’s post. Thomas Falcigno, a Democratic communications operative who has worked for Sen. Adam Schiff and several House Democrats, summed up Baumgartner’s takeaway from the midterms: “DON’T TALK TO JAKE SHERMAN OR ELSE.”
Reporter Olivia Beavers replied that she looked forward to getting around whatever he or leadership come up with.
Expelled former Rep. George Santos offered Baumgartner a list of members who talk to Sherman’s team and blamed leaky leadership staffers.
Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle answered with a string of exclamation points, and another X user joked that Baumgartner had finally uncovered the GOP’s true problem: Punchbowl.
Elections analyst Drew Savicki pointed out that Baumgartner is weighing in on leadership races even though his own seat isn’t settled. The Associated Press had not called his race in Washington’s 5th District as of Thursday night.
Baumgartner isn’t the only Trump ally having a rough week. Far-right influencer Laura Loomer put her show on hiatus the same day, saying she’d been “running on empty.”