Trump exacts mid-term revenge on Tom Rice
Republican US Representative Tom Rice, who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the January attack on the US Congress, lost his re-election bid in the South Carolina primary on Tuesday to Trump-backed challenger Russell Fry. A prime target in Trump's midterm revenge campaign against perceived political enemies, Rice lost the Republican nomination to Fry 51% to 24.6%, with 99% of the vote counted, according to Edison Research. Fry, a state legislator, is likely to win the November general election in the strongly Republican district. Another Republican targeted by Trump, Representative Nancy Mace, led Trump-endorsed challenger Katie Arrington 53.2 percent to 45 percent with just over three-quarters of the vote counted, Edison Research said. Rice, a five-term incumbent, and Mace, a freshman, each ran afoul of Trump after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, while Congress worked to certify the 2020 presidential election. The riot is now the subject of a bipartisan congressional investigation that focused this week on Trump's false claims of a stolen 2020 election. Rice was one of 10 congressional Republicans to vote for Trump's impeachment. Mace drew Trump's ire by refusing to back Republican efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results. Trump, who turned 76 on Tuesday, had asked supporters to give him two birthday presents by defeating Rice and Mace. The results will be seen as a measure of Trump's continued influence over the Republican Party as he hints at another run for the White House in 2024. His endorsees so far have had mixed success in battleground states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina. Voters also cast ballots on Tuesday in Nevada, Maine and North Dakota to choose party nominees to compete in the November general elections for the US Senate and House of Representatives. With Democratic President Joe Biden slumping in the polls and soaring inflation souring voters' moods, Republicans are expected to win control of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate. That would bring Biden's legislative agenda to a halt and give Republicans the power to launch investigations that could be politically damaging. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Tuesday showed Biden's public approval rating at 39 percent, in its third straight weekly decline, approaching the lowest level of his presidency. Fifty-six percent of Americans disapprove of Biden's job performance. (Reuters)