WASHINGTON—Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash earned himself a primary challenger Monday morning following a series of tweets Amash made saying that Trump “engaged in impeachable conduct” by obstructing justice.

Michigan Republican State Rep. Jim Lower announced his plans to challenge Amash for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District seat Amash has occupied since 2011, The Detroit Free Press reported.

Never a fan of @justinamash, a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy. If he actually read the biased Mueller Report, “composed” by 18 Angry Dems who hated Trump,…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019

According to The Free Press, Lower was originally planning to announce his run for that seat around July 4. However, Lower decided to move the date up after reading Amash’s tweets against the president this weekend.

Amash did not have a primary challenger during the 2018 election.

I think you’re going to see primary candidates emerge very quickly and I think that he will be challenged, and if the right person runs he will be defeated in a primary

Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox slammed Amash in a tweet saying that he has “opposed Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda every step of the way.”

One veteran Michigan GOP consultant says that Amash’s remarks on Twitter infuriated party members.

“I think you’re going to see primary candidates emerge very quickly and I think that he will be challenged, and if the right person runs he will be defeated in a primary,” the GOP consultant said. “If you go on our social media pages in Michigan, everyone is furious (at him).”

The consultant continued, “They all look at it as very self-serving. People are saying that he’s doing it to see what kind of reaction he gets from around the country for a presidential run. My guess is he’ll get a small group of anti-Trumpers and some Democrats, which will obviously get him nowhere.”

According to the GOP consultant, Amash has managed to maintain his seat as a result of keeping good constituent relations in his district saying that “He’d always come back and explain himself and say he was doing it all for the right reasons, but this looks very self-serving and political.”

President Trump immediately responded to Amash’s tweets calling the Michigan lawmaker “a loser.”

Republicans on capitol hill including: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, and North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Walker all went after Amash as well.

You’ve got to understand Justin Amash. He’s been in Congress quite some time. I think he’s asked one question in all the committees that he’s been in. He votes more with Nancy Pelosi than he ever votes with me. It’s a question whether he’s even in our Republican conference as a whole,” McCarthy said on Fox News.

THE PICKET LINE:

Amash has put a serious dent in any reelection effort as the party has abandoned him and any serious 2020 support for him is unlikely.