Trump taunts Fox News reporter over fiancé's vote against him

President Donald Trump taunted a Fox News reporter on Wednesday over her fiancé, a Republican congressman who has voted against him. Speaking to reporters, Trump took aim at the outlet's senior White House correspondent, Jacqui Heinrich, who announced her engagement to Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican with a long adversarial relationship with the President. Referring to Rep. Thomas Massie's recent loss at the primaries, Trump warned that "it doesn't go well" for those who vote against him. 

Speaking to a group of reporters, Trump responded to an unrelated question by taking a personal jab at Heinrich. "Her husband votes against me all the time. Can you imagine?" the President said, mistakenly referring to Heinrich's fiancée as her husband. "I don't know what's with him. You'd better ask him what's with him. He likes voting against Trump," the President added. "You know what happens with that. It doesn't work out well."

Earlier this week, Thomas Massie lost to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein in the Republican primary for Kentucky's 4th Congressional District. The defeat came amid the ongoing feud between the congressman and the President on a number of issues. Massie, who refers to himself as a libertarian, has defected from Trump on a number of key agendas, including his Covid relief bill and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Most recently, he spearheaded the Epstein Transparency Act alongside Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna. Similarly, Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, has also at times broken with Trump, as he was the only other American to join Massie in voting against the OBBBA, according to Newsweek.

Trump has aimed at dissent within the party, and successfully backed primary challenges against most Indiana state senators who opposed his GOP-friendly redistricting plan. While the President managed to oust Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Massie Fitzpatrick, one of three House Republicans representing districts carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, has faced no primary challenger this year and won renomination for the upcoming midterms on Tuesday. According to the Cook Political Report, his seat is still rated as "likely Republican," due to Fitzpatrick's unusually strong standing in the swing district.

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, some Republican strategists think that Trump's success in ousting the party of dissenters could come back to haunt him in the midterm elections, as candidates may struggle with controlling the narrative. Trump's current approval rating is at an all-time low at 35% according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, reflecting an increasingly growing concern over inflation and cost of living, which the Iran war has worsened. The strategists expressed that Republican candidates before the election may be pressured to support Trump closely to avoid becoming his targets, and it may cost them voters outside the MAGA base. "Anytime the party in power in the midterm elections faces headwinds, the President should be looking to grow his coalition," Jeff Grappone, a former adviser to several Republican senators, told the publication.