Ana Navarro: Republicans are ‘cowards’ for not standing up to Trump

Republican strategist Ana Navarro on Wednesday slammed Republican lawmakers as “cowards” for not standing up to President Trump. 

{mosads}Navarro, a CNN contributor, said on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time” that the GOP is filled with members who are afraid to speak out against the president out of fear of losing a reelection and that it is “sad time” for the party. 

“What you’ve got is a group of folks in Congress, a lot of them in the Republican party, who are quaking in their boots. They are cowards,” she said.

Navarro’s comments also come on the heels of Rep. Mark Sanford‘s (R-S.C.) defeat in a South Carolina GOP primary.

Sanford repeatedly criticized Trump, and his opponent used that as an issue in the primary. Trump ripped into Sanford while supporting his rival on Tuesday afternoon as voters continued to go to the polls. 

Navarro said Republicans are afraid to speak out against Trump because of the consequences. She mentioned both Sanford and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a frequent Trump critic who didn’t run for reelection after polls showed he faced a difficult race. 

“They are afraid to speak up because they are afraid to run the same fate, to face the same fate as a Mark Sanford or a Jeff Flake,” Navarro said. 

Navarro made the comments in the context of a conversation about Virginia Senate candidate Corey Stewart’s (R) primary victory on Tuesday.

Stewart, who received a congratulatory message on Twitter from Trump after the primary, has ties to two notable white nationalists and has drawn increasing scrutiny because of it. 

The campaign arm for Senate Republicans has indicated it will not offer any support to Stewart in his campaign and will instead focus on other races.

Navarro, a frequent of critic of the GOP under Trump, said she was appalled by Stewart’s win in the primary.

She also mentioned that it’s a “sad time” because the party has had candidates over the past couple years who have been accused of being pedophiles and neo-Nazis.

“You know, it’s a hard time,” she said. “I will tell you it’s a sad time.”