One member of the House Freedom Caucus said President Donald Trump threatened to campaign against him in the 2018 midterm election if he did not support the House GOP's Obamacare replacement bill.
Rep. Mark Sanford of South Carolina told The Post and Courier the message was delivered by a friend of his, White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney.
Sanford recalled Mulvaney's message: "The president asked me to look you square in the eyes and to say that he hoped that you voted 'no' on this bill so he could run [a primary challenger] against you in 2018."
Sanford noted, "I've never had anyone, over my time in politics, put it to me as directly as that."
The House Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative Republicans, did not back the American Health Care Act that was supposed to be voted on last Friday. House Speaker Paul Ryan ultimately decided to cancel the vote because the bill did not have enough support.
Trump and other Republicans who lobbied for the bill blamed the Freedom Caucus for its demise.
The White House criticized the Freedom Caucus twice on Thursday: once via a tweet from the president, and again during the daily press briefing.
"If people are more concerned with voting as a block than what's in the best interest of their constituents and the American people, [Trump is] hoping that people will see the bigger picture, the goals that we outlined," press secretary Sean Spicer said.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.