MAGA Senator gets ambushed by GOP comrades after siding with Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump walks at Newark Liberty International Airport as he travels en route to Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., August 7, 2026. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that a Republican Trump supporter appears to have gotten himself bushwhacked by his GOP comrades for taking Trump’s side over that of state officials.

It was earlier this week that Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson ranted on social media about President Donald Trump’s investigation of her office for protecting Utah’s state rights.

“It would be nice if the good folks at the DOJ would focus on actual problems instead of baselessly harassing election officials,” Henderson posted along with a portion of a letter she received from the DOJ informing her that “she is currently under investigation” for refusing to give it unfettered access to Utah voters’ private data.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee, staunch Trump ally, pounced her post within hours, commenting “Election security is the ‘actual problem.’”

Utah is a Republican state, complete with an all-Republican delegation of U.S. House members and senators, so Lee might have been surprised when a coalition of GOP representatives essentially did a pile-on, bushwhacking Lee for siding with Trump over state’s rights.

On Thursday, both Gov. Spencer Cox and former Gov. Gary Herbert came to Henderson’s defense.

“Legal disagreements between Utah and the federal government should be resolved in court. It is wrong for the DOJ to investigate or threaten the lieutenant governor for carrying out her responsibilities under Utah law,” said Cox, who had largely remained quiet about the DOJ’s threats up until this week.

In July, Trump’s DOJ issued letters to election officials in all 50 states, warning of “criminal penalties” if noncitizens cast ballots in the upcoming election. But Herbert wrote that Henderson was correct to “defend her constitutional role as Utah’s elections leader.”

“Elections are the responsibility of the states, and Utah conducts them with integrity. Lt. Gov. and her office are doing a terrific job protecting that tradition,” Herbert added, according to the Tribune.

It is likely no coincidence that both Cox and Herbert previously served as lieutenant governor, the post that oversees Utah’s elections—similar to other state’s secretaries of state. It may also be no coincidence, reports the Tribune, that Lee has “previously come under fire for texts advising Trump on how to overturn the president’s 2020 electoral loss.

Utah officials argue that Trump’s federal government has not “provided a legal basis” for needing voter data, and Henderson says if she were to comply, she would be violating Utah privacy laws.

Meanwhile, the Tribune reports Utah’s federal district court has not yet scheduled a hearing in the DOJ’s case against Henderson.

From Your Site Articles