A story that came out bright and early this morning and one that no one seemed happy with, save for Rep. Matt Rosendale. A few hours later a retraction was in order.
Senate Republicans want nothing to do with Rep. Matt Rosendale because he's seen as unpredictable, a Freedom Caucus member who says crazy stuff and votes however he damn well pleases. And they were burned by him already, as he lost to Sen. Jon Tester in 2018 in deep-red Montana, a state that regularly votes Republican on everything. Considering the stakes, they'd much rather go with the safer bet in Tim Sheehy, another hardcore conservative (endorsed by the likes of Newt Gingrich, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Ryan Zinke). If Rosendale wins the Republican primary there are fears he'd just lose to Tester again.
So it was surprising when Speaker Johnson's staff put out the news that he was going to endorse Rosendale. People were not pleased. But this is what happens when you put a person in a leadership position with no experience. They make rookie mistakes. Every friggin' day.
Source: Punchbowl News
Speaker Mike Johnson plans to endorse Rep. Matt Rosendale’s (R-Mont.) looming campaign for Senate, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
Rosendale is expected to jump into the race on Friday.
Johnson’s endorsement would put him in direct conflict with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the NRSC and the Senate Leadership Fund, all of whom are opposed to Rosendale’s candidacy. The Senate GOP political operation has backed Tim Sheehy to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in one of the marquee races this year.
Rosendale turned heads in the House Republican Conference earlier this week when he voted to send $17.6 billion to Israel without corresponding budget offsets. Previously, Rosendale has said this type of aid package needs to be paid for.
The charitable view is that Johnson is backing one of his own rank-and-file lawmakers for “member management” purposes. Needless to say, though, Senate Republicans aren’t very happy with Johnson here on Day 106 of his speakership — for this and many other reasons.
Johnson’s team did not reply to a request for comment.
And Johnson's subsequent retraction.
