Rep. Charlie Dent said Wednesday that the "litmus test" for the Republican Party is now loyalty to President Donald Trump.
"I believe that we have an obligation as Republicans to stand up for what I think we have stood for for a long time," Dent said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"We're supposed to be a party about principles and ideals … prior to Donald Trump, I've always said this party used to have litmus test issues. We had the purity police who would judge us determine whether or not we were doctrinaire enough," Dent said.
"I never really liked that because I'm more pragmatic. But since Donald Trump has stepped into the breach, the litmus test has become loyalty to the man," said Dent, R-Penn., who announced Tuesday he's resigning from Congress next month.
"It's incumbent upon us as the Republican Party to stand up for things. So when the president goes off the rail on trade, we should call him out," Dent said.
"If he makes some absurd statements at Charlottesville or about Muslims, or you can go down the whole list of things he's said over the time he's been a candidate or president, we've had to rein him in," Dent said in the interview.
"I think we need to do that more forcefully from time to time, and I'm a little saddened by that," Dent added.
The congressman criticized Congress on Monday for its actions regarding Trump.
"We have not provided enough robust oversight on the president," Dent said on CNN.
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