‘Unpresidential’: GOP Senate Candidate Hartzler Sharply Rebuked Trump in 2021

U.S. Senate candidate and Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler accused President Trump of behaving in an “unpresidential” manner that “makes it hard to object” in a statement issued by her office just last year.

During last year’s election certification vote, Vicky Hartzler stated that, “President Trump’s unpresidential remarks today makes it hard to vote to object.” She went on to describe January 6 as “one of the darkest days in our nation’s history”, comparing the protests against election fraud that took place that day to a “third world coup.”

Hartzler’s remarks echoed those of disgraced Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who has asserted that the Capitol protests were an example of “how democracies die”, or Vice President Kamala Harris, who compared January 6 to the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks.

Beyond this, as a member of Congress, Hartzler voted against the Trump administration’s agenda on numerous occasions. She joined 225 Democrats, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) in voting to condemn President Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of harm’s way in Syria. Similarly, she undermined President Trump’s negotiating ability with Russia by voting to disapprove a Trump proposal to selectively relax U.S. sanctions on Russia, and later opposed the President’s call for Russia to be re-admitted to the G7 group of nations.

Despite President Trump’s request that “all Republican House Members vote NO on FISA until such time as our Country is able to determine how and why the greatest political, criminal, and subversive scandal in USA history took place,”, Hartzler defied the President and voted to reauthorize FISA spying tools. These tools had been extensively abused by anti-Trump deep state figures to undermine President Trump and his authority.

According to a report from Politico, Hartzler is favored by members of the Republican Senate leadership team, who are hoping that President Trump will endorse her over her primary rivals. “These Republicans are crossing their fingers that Trump will follow the senator’s momentum and lean in for Hartzler,” wrote Playbook reporter Rachel Bade.

President Trump has yet to make an endorsement in the race, though Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) recently announced his endorsement of Hartzler.