'Trump-GOP vengeance campaign' is putting 18 House Republicans at risk: report

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives has become “a fealty to” Donald Trump that's so driven to enact vengeance for its leader that it’s putting 18 vulnerable seats at risk, NBC News reported Wednesday.

House Republicans are using their power to further Trump’s mission for retribution against political enemies he considers as having a “witch hunt” against him, wrote senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur.

But this crusade on behalf of the former president has come at a cost, as it’s left those who don’t represent MAGA strongholds in a vulnerable position.

“Caught in the middle of the Trump-GOP vengeance campaign are politically vulnerable House Republicans — including 18 lawmakers from districts Biden won in 2020,” Kapur wrote. “They need strong support from pro-Trump Republican voters at home to win primaries, but they also need support from Trump-skeptical independents to hold their seats in the general election.”

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The retribution effort includes a fight to expunge Trump’s impeachments while pushing to impeach President Joe Biden. It's seen a push by the GOP to punish Trump’s most outspoken critics, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who was censured this month and said the vote showed “the crazy extreme MAGA people are now running the House of Representatives.”

And it's seen a massive amount of resources spent on ‘weaponization” panels designed to discredit agencies such as the FBI that Trump has grievances with.

“I accept Trump at his word that he will seek retribution,” David Jolly, a former GOP congressman who is now a Trump critic, told NBC News.

“But what we’ve learned is: If he has a Republican Congress, that Congress will probably do what they can to ensure Trump has the executive authority to seek retribution.”

The quest to avenge Trump comes from several factors, Jolly said.

“One is a fealty to — and protection of — Donald Trump,” he said.

“The second is there’s a true conviction among some members, particularly your newer members, that the Biden family is a crime family. They do actually believe that. And then, finally, the weak stature of Kevin McCarthy, who is unable to stop any of these impulses, because the political reality is he needs the caucuses of those seeking retribution.”

Those Republicans in 18 swing districts generally go along with it because they’re “not going to beat back this overwhelming impulse of Republicans,” he said.

But he said they’re conscious of how that will play out when in a general election.