DCCC - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

04/12/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/12/2024 11:41

As Trump Campaigns in Bucks County, Brian Fitzpatrick Hides In His Basement

Tomorrow, Donald Trump is campaigning in Bucks County, but vulnerable Republican Brian Fitzpatrick is nowhere to be found as he tries to avoid Trump like the plague.

In recent weeks, Fitzpatrick has been desperately "dodging questions about Trump," including literally running from reporters. However, the vulnerable Republican can't escape his continued allegiance to a party that is hellbent on taking away women's freedoms.

DCCC Spokesperson Aidan Johnson:
"For too long, Brian Fitzpatrick has gotten away with being a wolf in sheep's clothing, consistently siding with MAGA extremists when it matters most. No matter how much Fitzpatrick tries to hide, he lost the trust of his constituents the moment he tried to restrict access to abortion nationwide."

  • Former President Donald Trump 's first stop in Pennsylvania on Saturday will be a fundraiser in Bucks County - a short distance from U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick's district office.

  • But Fitzpatrick's plans on Saturday remain unclear.

  • The self-described moderate Republican, who has a history of dodging questions about Trump, did not respond to inquiries about whether he'll attend the event.

  • That came as little surprise to political observers who note Democrats in the politically split district have been trying to tie Fitzpatrick to Trump for years.

  • Fitzpatrick is the lone Republican still representing one of Philadelphia's collar counties and one of 18 House Republicans elected in districts where voters backed President Joe Biden in 2020. The district, where Democrats narrowly outnumber Republicans, is solidly middle class and made up almost entirely of Bucks County. It's a bellwether for the state and a place where divisions between the Republican Party's Trump loyalists and more moderate members have been playing out for years.

  • For Fitzpatrick, it's a precarious political moment. He's navigating fending off an ultra-conservative challenger, Mark Houck, in the April 23 primary and positioning himself to appeal to enough Bucks County voters to hang onto his seat come November.

  • Fitzpatrick has not said whether he will endorse Trump, the party's presumptive nominee, or vote for him, with just two weeks until the Pennsylvania primary. He's also running a very low-key primary race of his own, avoiding national and local media.

  • Neither Fitzpatrick's campaign nor his congressional office staff have responded to nearly a dozen requests from The Inquirer seeking to reach him over the last two months about his reelection campaign.

  • Fitzpatrick was endorsed by Trump in 2020 but also skirted questions then on whether he was backing him.

  • But Fitzpatrick also voted against impeaching Trump and against forming a select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack. He joined every Republican in the House in opposing Biden's American Rescue Plan. More recently, he voted for impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and initially supported hard-right U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan for House speaker, before flipping his vote during the chaotic search for a GOP speaker.

  • If he wins the primary, he'll face Democrat and Iraq war veteran Ashley Ehasz, who he defeated by nearly 10 points in 2022. She's pushed back against Fitzpatrick's claims that he's a moderate.

  • "We don't need Fitzpatrick to say he supports Donald Trump," Ehasz said, "to know that he has done and will continue to do the former president's bidding in Congress."