John Boehner to Back 'Traitor' Anthony Gonzalez in Defiance of Vengeful Donald Trump
Former GOP House Speaker John Boehner has thrown his support behind an Ohio Republican congressman who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, drawing the ire and campaign opposition of a man who last month proclaimed to be the leader of the Republican Party.
Boehner, an Ohio Republican who served as House Speaker from 2011 through 2015, is set to attend a Monday fundraiser for Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 House Republicans who voted in support of impeaching Trump in January, Politico reported Saturday.
Trump criticized Gonzalez by name in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where the former president vowed to lead and unite the Republican Party despite his election loss to President Joe Biden. The former president has held multiple fundraisers since leaving office in support of GOP candidates who are running against the congressional Republicans who voted in favor of his impeachment.
In February, Trump declared that he will work to "get rid of" every incumbent Republican who voted to impeach him. At CPAC, he labeled each Republican who voted to impeach him as "grandstanders" who are tearing down the party.
"And in the House, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Adam Kinzinger [of Illinois], Dan Newhouse [of Washington], Anthony Gonzalez [of Ohio], Fred Upton [of Michigan], Jaime Herrera-Beutler [of Washington], Peter Meijer [of Michigan], John Katko [of New York], David Valadao [of California] and of course the warmonger, a person that loves seeing our troops fighting, Liz Cheney [of Wyoming], how about that?"
Trump last week endorsed Max Miller during a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser last week, who is challenging Gonzalez for his seat in this year's congressional primaries.
Meanwhile, Boehner's reported attendance at the upcoming fundraiser for Gonzalez exposes the growing divide between the GOP's "old guard" and Trump's vast party influence. Fellow ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan is scheduled to host a virtual fundraiser for Wyoming Congresswoman Cheney, who also voted to impeach Trump in January.
Boehner is slated to attend the fundraiser this week. He is set to appear as a "special guest" at the Zoom fundraiser Monday.
The person currently in Boehner's old job, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, has vowed to help all Republicans win re-election—even those who Trump has publicly blasted as "traitors" to himself and the wider Republican Party. McCarthy was considered a tight ally of the former president prior to Biden's election victory.
