President Donald Trump announced Saturday that he has rescinded his endorsement of Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Republican congressman from Colorado’s 3rd District, citing Hurd’s lack of support for Trump’s tariff agenda.
Trump labeled Hurd a “RINO,” an acronym for “Republican in Name Only,” a term he and others use to criticize party members perceived as insufficiently aligned with core Republican policies.
Trump posted on his social media platform that he would instead endorse Hope Scheppelman, a Republican challenger, in the district’s June 30 primary. In his announcement, Trump said he withdrew support for Hurd due in large part to the congressman’s vote with Democrats to repeal portions of Trump’s tariff policy, which targeted foreign countries and companies.
“Based on a lack of support, in particular for the unbelievably successful TARIFFS imposed on Foreign Countries and Companies which has made America Richer, Stronger, Bigger, and Better than ever before, I am hereby WITHDRAWING my Endorsement of RINO Congressman Jeff Hurd, of Colorado’s 3rd District, and fully Endorsing Highly Respected Patriot, Hope Scheppelman, to take his place in Congress,” Trump said in the post.
Hurd was one of six House Republicans who supported a resolution to terminate the national emergency authority underpinning the tariffs. In defending his vote on social media earlier this month, Hurd cited constitutional principles, saying that Congress has primary authority over trade matters and that broad executive emergency powers should not be normalized.
Trump’s post emphasized that Scheppelman, described as a U.S. Navy veteran and critical care nurse practitioner, would support “America First” policies, including economic growth, tax cuts, border security and election integrity.
At the time of the report, Hurd had not issued a public response to Trump’s endorsement change.
Trump mentioned that he has only withdrawn an endorsement once before, specifically from former Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama. He accused Brooks of being disloyal and “woke.” Ultimately, Brooks lost to a GOP Senate primary to then-Representative Katie Britt, also from Alabama, in 2022.
The Colorado representative justified his vote by highlighting Congress’s authority to regulate foreign trade, stating that the tariff policy negatively impacted businesses and residents in his state.
“If we normalize broad emergency trade powers today, we should expect that a future president — of either party — will rely on the same authority in ways many of us would strongly oppose. Institutional consistency matters,” Hurd posted earlier this month on X.
“The Constitution does not shift depending on who occupies the White House,” he added. “My responsibility is to defend the separation of powers regardless of political convenience.”
Trump withdrew his endorsement of Hurd just one day after the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision, which struck down most of Trump’s tariffs. The Court asserted that Trump had exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 to impose these tariffs.
In response, the president first introduced a universal 10% tariff on imports, but on Saturday, he increased the tariffs to 15% using different authorities already granted by Congress.
“Based on a lack of support, in particular for the unbelievably successful TARIFFS imposed on Foreign Countries and Companies which has made America Richer, Stronger, Bigger, and Better than ever before, I am hereby WITHDRAWING my Endorsement of RINO Congressman Jeff Hurd, of Colorado’s 3rd District, and fully Endorsing Highly Respected Patriot, Hope Scheppelman, to take his place in Congress.
“Congressman Hurd is one of a small number of Legislators who have let me and our Country down. He is more interested in protecting Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for decades than he is the United States of America. Taking back an Endorsement is a difficult decision for me.
“I have only done it once before, with a former Congressman named Mo Brooks, from Alabama, who was leading by 54 points after my Endorsement for U.S. Senate, and then, he unexpectedly, for strictly political reasons, changed his views on the Rigged Election of 2020, and lost his Race in a Landslide to Katie Britt, who I Endorsed. These are the decisions that must be made, however, to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”