With just about 90 days until the election, the thought of "party unity" within the GOP is a distant memory as a new round of internal skirmishes threatens races up and down the ballot.
According to CNN, a new feud that erupted Wednesday within the House requires a scorecard to keep track of the battlegrounds:
- House Freedom Caucus vs. Paul Ryan
- Donald Trump vs. John McCain and Paul Ryan (and many others)
- Republican incumbents vs. Donald Trump
- GOP incumbents vs. Republican insurgents who seek Trump's endorsement
"Clearly the war continues," former Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp told CNN. "The establishment never sleeps. They spend more time going after conservatives than going after Hillary Clinton."
Huelskamp lost his Kansas primary to a political novice, setting off a firestorm within the conservative caucus of the House that blames Ryan for not doing enough to support him, namely, reinstating Huelskamp to the House Agriculture Committee.
Though many say Huelskamp has no one to blame but himself, the Freedom Caucus doesn't see it that way.
"Republicans need to be unified behind conservative principles to stop the Obama/Clinton agenda," Freedom Caucus Chairman Jim Jordan said. "The House Republican leadership's opposition to Tim Huelskamp significantly damaged the ability of House Republicans to do that."
Meanwhile, while Trump refuses to endorse McCain and Ryan in their primaries, at least one of those challengers is soliciting Trump's help to unseat the near 30-year Arizona Senator.
"I think I can be very, very helpful to Mr. Trump's campaign as well," McCain primary challenger Kelli Ward told CNN. "He needs those kinds of surrogates and people who have been fighting for him."
And Trump remains toxic for Republican incumbents who feel the need to create space between themselves and Trump.
Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman released an ad Thursday saying of Trump, "I don't care for him much."
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