#Republicans#fear they will be targets in #Trump’s ‘#retribution’ campaign
TFG is already attacking those who have endorsed his #GOP opponents or have crossed him in other ways
The #Trump campaign has also attempted to condemn fmr aides who worked for his rivals during the #GOP nomination fight & have twisted arms demanding endorsements, telling lawmakers that Trump will remember exactly when they backed him.
“MAGA disowns her & anyone else that associates/works with her,” read a recent Trump campaign social media message targeting the Trump campaign’s 2020 comms director for working last year to elect #DeSantis. “TRAITOR!”
Even new #House#Speaker#MikeJohnson (R-LA) has been dragged into the crossfire. One of his top #political consultants, Jason Hebert, works for Axiom Strategies, a consulting company that advised the DeSantis pres effort. A Trump adviser called Johnson after he won the speakership to warn him not to work w/Axiom, acc/to multiple people…. Hebert, a college friend of Johnson’s, is expected to start billing his work for Johnson through a company not tied to Axiom….
The high-dollar #donor community, which has been told in various ways to rally quickly behind #Trump, has taken notice.
“People took that as, ‘I am going to be president & I am going to investigate you,’” said Katon Dawson, a fmr SC #GOP chair & Haley backer, when Trump threatened to punish her donors. “There is always a threat. If you are not for him he’s against you.”
#Trump’s top advisers say the efforts to cajole & punish w/in the party are not a central part of their strategy, & some close to Trump point out that TFG can be quick to forgive when it is in his interest. Trump has long distinguished himself as both surprisingly #vicious & disarmingly #transactional, often willing to forgive intractable enmity for short-term gain.
…There are other signs that #Trump’s team has used a heavy hand. His campaign sent word to other operatives that if they worked for DeSantis, they would no longer be able to work for Trump, according to people with knowledge of the comments. One message sent to a former aide who did not heed the warnings read, “#RIP,” according to a person familiar with the exchange.
Some allies have kept #lists of #Republicans who have been critical of #Trump in a bid to block them from getting jobs in a second term, acc/to a person w/knowledge of the #list. “You have a lot of people who want to come back in, but we remember what people have said in the past,” one longtime Trump ally said.
During a grueling primary, #Trump has told advisers that he wants to make sure #DeSantis is not the #GOP presidential nominee in #2028 & that he wants to make his #2024 loss painful, people who heard his comments said. He has floated attacking lesser-known senators for not immediately endorsing him, acc/to people who have spoken to Trump.
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