Trump proudly touts hit list of Republicans he drove out of office

On New Years Day, former President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform to release a list of various Republican lawmakers and public officials whom he claims to have pushed out of office over disloyalty to him.

First on the list, Trump named several outgoing or already out-of-office Republican senators who spoke critically of him to varying degrees throughout his presidency — Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Richard Burr (R-NC). Republicans no longer even control all of these seats as a result; Flake was ultimately replaced by now-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, while Toomey will be succeeded by Democrat John Fetterman.

Trump then listed off a number of members of Congress he takes credit for defeating or forcing into retirement, including several who voted to impeach him after the January 6 attack.

On that list were Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Tom Rice (R-SC), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Jaime Hererra Beutler (R-WA), Fred Upton (R-MI), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), John Katko (R-NY), Justin Amash (I-MI), and Mark Sanford (R-SC). Some of these lawmakers didn't leave entirely due to Trump — Kinzinger and Upton's seats were redrawn in unfavorable ways, for instance — and several, like Meijer and Hererra Beutler, will now be replaced by Democrats.

Finally, the former president named two anti-Trump Republican governors he claimed to have defeated, but his claim in both cases is questionable.

He listed Gov. John Kasich (R-OH), a Republican who crossed the aisle to back Biden for president in 2020, who wasn't defeated at all but simply reached his term limit in 2018; and Gov. Charlie Baker (R-MA), who retired from office extremely popular and will be succeeded by Democrat Maura Healey.