The tweet:
Heller’s political payoff:
Heller GOP Primary Challenger Tarkanian drops out of U.S. Senate race, jumps into 3rd Congressional District at Trump’s request [Nevada Independent, 3/16/18]
And the price Heller paid Trump?
Voting for a bill that HE HIMSELF said “takes insurance from tens of millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Nevadans” after Trump threatened: “He wants to remain a senator, doesn’t he?”
Trump rewards loyalty in Nevada and shows the power he wields over GOP [CNN, 3/17/18]
Last summer when Sen. Dean Heller was considering bucking President Donald Trump on health care, the president issued a not-so-subtle threat to the vulnerable Nevada Republican. “Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn’t he?” Trump said at a meeting at the White House with GOP senators. Heller laughed off the comment, but GOP senators were alarmed. And the subtle threat may have had an effect. Over the next several months, Heller aligned himself closely with the President, endorsing his efforts to repeal Obamacare, appearing right behind Trump at a White House event celebrating passage of the tax law, and avoiding direct criticism of Trump despite the seemingly endless string of controversies coming out of the West Wing.