Trump credits his tweet in Sanford’s defeat
COLUMBIA, S.C. — President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Twitter early Wednesday, crediting his Election-Day tweet in part for the defeat of a South Carolina Republican congressman who has been critical of his administration.
Touting his success in ousting a foe and reinforcing that the Republican Party is Mr. Trump’s party now, the president tweeted Wednesday that his advisers didn’t want him to get involved in the Republican primary, thinking Rep. Mark Sanford “would easily win.”
But Mr. Trump said Rep. Katie Arrington “was such a good candidate, and Mr. Sanford was so bad, I had to give it a shot.”
At the same time, he tweeted that people shouldn’t underestimate his loyalist Corey Stewart, who won Virginia’s Republican primary to face Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. The president said Mr. Stewart has “a major chance of winning!”
In South Carolina, Ms. Arrington narrowly defeated Mr. Sanford after Mr. Trump tweeted that Mr. Sanford had been unhelpful, adding, “He is betteroff in Argentina.”
That was a reference to Mr. Sanford’s surprise disappearance from the state as governor, which he revealed was to further his affair with an Argentine woman.
“My political representatives didn’t want me to get involved in the Mark Sanford primary thinking that Sanford would easily win - but with a few hours left I felt that Katie was such a good candidate, and Sanford was so bad, I had to give it a shot. Congrats to Katie Arrington!” the president said Wednesday on Twitter.
Mr. Sanford’s loss was perhaps the most dramatic result in primaries across five states Tuesday.
He becomes the second incumbent House Republican to lose a primary this year — the latest victim of intense divisions among the GOP in the Trump era.
House Speaker Paul Ryan downplayed the riff Wednesday and said there’s always going to be winners and losers during primary season.
“This happens,” said the speaker, who is retiring rather than seek re-election. “That’s just what happens in contested primaries.”
Others, though, said it’s an up-close example of how not to publicly criticize the president over differences.
Mr. Sanford’s voting record is generally conservative, but his criticism of Mr. Trump as unworthy and culturally intolerant made him a target of dedicated Trump supporters who often elevate loyalty over policy.
Ms. Arrington blasted Mr. Sanford as a “Never Trumper,” and Mr. Trump tweeted a startlingly personal attack hours before polls closed, calling Mr. Sanford “MIA and nothing but trouble ... he’s better off in Argentina.”
Even for a political figure with no shortage of confidence in challenging party decision-making, the attack was a bold case of going after a sitting member of Congress. It’s almost certain to make other Republicans even more reluctant to take him on, even as Mr. Trump stirs divisions on trade, foreign policy and the Russia investigation.
Mr. Sanford said Tuesday night that “I stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president.”
Mr. Sanford had never lost a political race in South Carolina, and his defeat Tuesday came amid a rollercoaster political career. Despite the scandal over the affair, he completed his second term as governor and voters sent him to Congress two years later.
Mr. Sanford told The Washington Post on Monday morning that his loss to Ms. Arrington will send a strong message to other Republicans about the consequences of calling out Mr. Trump for his apostasies on the things conservatives claim to hold dear — from fiscal responsibility to free trade. Or for pointing out, as Mr. Sanford did, Mr. Trump’s ignorance about what is in the Constitution and the president’s singular lack of transparency in refusing to release his tax returns.