WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s effort to extract revenge on lawmakers who challenged his hold on the GOP meets its latest test Tuesday in South Carolina, where he has thrown his weight behind challengers to Reps. Tom Rice, who voted to impeach him, and Nancy Mace, who criticized his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising.
Trump has endorsed state Rep. Russell Fry, one of six Republicans running against Rice in the 7th District, and former state Rep. Katie Arrington, who is challenging Mace in the 1st. He appeared with them at a South Carolina rally in March and boosted them in a phone call to supporters last week, during which he called the races “two of the most critical primary elections in the country.”
But both Rice and Mace have received support from other high-profile Republicans who have previously fallen in line behind the former president. Former House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., traveled to South Carolina to campaign with Rice, while Mace was endorsed by both former acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former South Carolina Gov. and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
