Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said his party needs to help President Donald Trump "achieve the full potential of this presidency" by being more unified.
During an interview with Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs on Tuesday, Gaetz was asked about his comments earlier in the week that GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska should be voted out of office for refusing to support confirming a Supreme Court nominee so close to the November election.
"I'm so frustrated that when we had unified control of the government, we followed Paul Ryan off a cliff and didn't get immigration done, didn't get entitlement reform done, a lot of the things that the president wanted to see happen," Gaetz said. "So now I think we've got to set the standard so that going forward we can achieve the full potential of this presidency."
Mediaite posted a clip of Gaetz's remarks.
Gaetz said if the Republican Party wants "to be a successful, enduring movement, the type that I write about in my book 'Firebrand,' we actually have to have people who are willing to confront their duties, not reject them. And it's my view that if a senator is gonna reject their duty, then the voters ought to reject them."
On Monday, Gaetz said of Collins and Murkowski, "What good are Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski if we can't count on them to fulfill their obligation to advise and consent during the term in which they've been elected."
He told Dobbs, "I'm sick and tired of President Trump's voters being taken for granted. I think in Alaska, Maine, and elsewhere if someone's not willing to do their job, well, maybe the voters ought to withhold their vote if a senator withholds theirs.
"I don't think that senators who aren't willing to do their duties should be rewarded with political funds, should be rewarded with committee chairmanship, or any other prized position in the leadership. If we did that, by the way, Lou, it wouldn't just have a positive effect now, it would set a standard going forward where during the second term of this president, we will actually back him and get stuff done."
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