Retiring GOP Rep. Charlie Dent: New Litmus Test for Republicans Is ‘Trump Loyalty’

Retiring GOP Rep. Charlie Dent: New Litmus Test for Republicans Is ‘Trump Loyalty’ (Mediaite)

Since announcing his plan to retire from the House, it seems Pennsylvania GOP congressman Charlie Dent has a new sense of freedom in airing grievances against his own party, saying Republicans are now too obsessed with “Trump loyalty.”

Though he has never been shy when it comes to speaking up about the ultra conservative wing of the Republican Party, in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s Hardball, Dent opened up about his own party.

After Matthews asked about the GOP’s ability to lead while in power, Dent responded:

“I’ll tell you what, the battle prior to Donald Trump was this: We had the purists versus the pragmatists — and the pragmatists were largely the governing wing of the party, of which I was a part. That was the battle, that was the litmus test. Now since Donald Trump has become president, the litmus test is more Trump loyalty — are you loyal enough. But we still have this underlying fight between the pragmatists and the ideologues. In many respects, the ideologues have the upper hand.”