WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has reportedly offered his support to three Republican Senators that former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has indicated he would like to unseat.
Citing five people familiar with the calls, a report from Politico said Trump spoke with Senators John Barrasso, R-Wyo., Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss.
One of the people told Politico that Trump promised to help the senators against any insurgent challengers and said he hoped they would be re-elected.
The calls come as Bannon has declared war on the GOP establishment and suggested he plans to back primary challengers to almost every Republican Senator running for re-election next year.
'We are declaring war on the Republican establishment that does not back the agenda that Donald Trump ran on,' Bannon said in an interview on Fox News last week. 'We're going after these guys tooth and nail.'
In remarks at the White House on Monday, Trump said he can understand where Bannon is coming from, arguing that Republican senators have not been getting the job done.
'I'm not going to blame myself, I'll be honest. They are not getting the job done,' Trump said. 'I can understand where a lot of people are coming from because I'm not happy about it and a lot of people aren't happy about it.'
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., has warned of the potential dangers of nominating insurgent candidates, pointing to the failed campaigns of Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle, Todd Akin, and Richard Mourdock.
Politico noted Republicans hope to avoid spending money protecting incumbents in primaries and instead focus on defeating the ten Senate Democrats representing states Trump won in the presidential election.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX