It’s the second time in as many days that Trump laid into senators in his own party as the president tries, sometimes without success, to publicly pressure them to fall in line. A day earlier, Trump tore into veteran GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa over an obscure Senate procedure regarding nominations.
Trump called Hawley a “second-tier Senator” who was playing into the hands of Democrats.
“I don’t think real Republicans want to see their President, who has had unprecedented success, TARGETED, because of the 'whims' of a second-tier Senator named Josh Hawley!”
GOP senators had been working with the White House on the stock trade bill, and some supported a broad carve-out to exclude the president from the ban, but it failed, with Hawley joining Democrats to block it.
Hawley did not immediately respond to Trump’s post.
Trump’s post criticizing Hawley comes after a similar blowback directed Tuesday night at Grassley.
In that post, Trump pressured Grassley to do away with the Senate's longtime “blue slip” custom that often forces bipartisan support on presidential nominations of federal judges. The practice requires both senators in a state to agree to push a nominee forward for a vote. Trump told Grassley to do away with the practice.
“Senator Grassley must step up,” Trump said, while claiming that he helped the senator, who was first elected in 1980, to win reelection.
Grassley earlier Wednesday said he was “offended” by what the president said.
