Payback time

Republicans will weaponise acquittal to unseat vulnerable Democrats

Donald Trump is set to weaponise his acquittal following impeachment to unseat Democrats in states where he is popular in Congressional elections in November.

Amid rising anger among his supporters that Mr Trump was impeached at all, the White House has drawn up a hit list of Democrat districts that voted for Mr

Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

The aim is to take back control of the House of Representatives, which is held by the Democrats with a 232-197 majority.

Doing so would unseat Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker, replacing her with the Republican leader, Kevin Mccarthy.

It is believed Mr Trump is keener than ever to win back the House after Mrs Pelosi ripped up his speech after his State of the Union address.

The campaign will involve rallies by Mr Trump in vulnerable Democrat districts, tweets aimed at those districts, and television advertisements reminding local voters that their representative voted to impeach the president. In addition, several Democrat senators, who represent states that voted for Mr Trump in 2016, could also face an onslaught, depending on how they voted at the end of his Senate trial.

America First Policies, an outside group that backs Mr Trump, has already spent $3 million (£2.3 million) on showing antiimpeachment adverts in pro-trump congressional districts represented by Democrats. The group also targeted Alabama and Michigan, where Democrat senators Doug Jones and Gary Peters face re-election in November.

An online fundraising system called Winred is being used to raise money for campaigns and TV adverts in congressional districts on the target list.

Democrats targeted include Elissa Slotkin, of Lansing, Michigan, who signed a letter backing impeachment in the Washington Post.

A spokesman for the conservative Tea Party Patriots said: “The impeachment effort has really riled Trump’s base.”

Nick Allen