The intense home state backlash against Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, for issuing a rogue subpoena of President Donald Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump, Jr., has only gotten worse in the days since news came out about Burr’s questionable move.

“The people of North Carolina are very upset about this,” Wayne King, the deputy chief of staff to Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and former vice chairman of the North Carolina GOP, said on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel. “They’re very upset about the attack on the president’s family and the attack on the president, and you can’t call it anything else but that–it’s an attack on the president and the first family. I’ve spent a good bit of time with Donald Trump, Jr., and he’s such a nice man–and for his family and him to have to go through this once again is just unbelievable to me. As a private citizen, he should be just that–a private citizen. Sen. Burr’s not running again, and his seat will be up in 2022, so there’s not any electoral repercussions [for him], but certainly people are talking about it and they’re very upset about it. I think that’s the reason Sen. Tillis came out so strongly against it, because he knew that that is not supported in North Carolina.”

King also said that the subpoena is indefensible and meant to “target” not only President Trump but the president’s whole family.

“I don’t understand that either. To subpoena a private citizen who’s already appeared before and testified some 25 hours is unbelievable to me,” King said. “It’s a target to the president’s family. It’s a target to the president. And it’s a problem, it’s a problem in this state, it’s a problem nationally, and the truth of the matter is when Leader McConnell says that the investigation is over, it should be over. We obviously have the Mueller report, which obviously the president was vindicated in that report in my opinion, and now they want to circle back again? It’s unbelievable. We control the U.S. Senate–now we need to act like we control the U.S. Senate.”

LISTEN TO WAYNE KING ON BREITBART NEWS SATURDAY:

King is hardly alone in North Carolina. His boss, Meadows, who chairs the powerful House Freedom Caucus, was one of the first to publicly condemn the subpoena. Meadows called the subpoena “beyond inappropriate.”

Serving a subpoena to Don Trump Jr.—a private citizen who voluntarily testified before 3 Congressional committees for 25+ hours—is beyond inappropriate. He answered questions and was cleared in the Mueller report after a 2 year, unlimited investigation. It's over. Let it go. — Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) May 9, 2019

So did Rep. Mark Walker (R-NC), another powerful North Carolina Republican who chairs the Republican Study Committee (RSC), which represents a vast swath of the GOP conference in the House.

Dems are trying to tear down @realDonaldTrump's presidency by any means they can. @DonaldJTrumpJr has given 25+ hours of testimony and put up with enough crap. Can executive privilege extend to children? Maybe it should! GOP Sens shouldn’t aide this witch hunt on our President — Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) May 9, 2019

As did Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), Burr’s fellow North Carolina senator, who tweeted twice this week in opposition to his colleague’s rogue subpoena.

I agree with Leader McConnell: this case is closed. The Mueller Report cleared @DonaldJTrumpJr and he’s already spent 27 hours testifying before Congress. Dems have made it clear this is all about politics. It’s time to move on & start focusing on issues that matter to Americans. https://t.co/11THs9LE0j — Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) May 9, 2019

Case closed! The Mueller Report has cleared @DonaldJTrumpJr and the dems are now making this all about politics. Let’s move on and get to work on the real issues facing America. https://t.co/rvmHGl3nsC — Thom Tillis (@ThomTillis) May 9, 2019

It has become a battle line issue in upcoming North Carolina special election primaries. Both North Carolina’s third congressional district and ninth congressional district have outstanding special elections. The leading GOP candidate in the third district, Dr. Greg Murphy–the top vote-getter in the recent first primary roundis headed to a summer runoff against Dr. Joan Perry, the winner of which will face a Democrat in the fall in the bid to replace the late Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), who passed away this year. Murphy tweeted out on Saturday his support of Trump, Jr., against his home state senator Burr.

As I travel #NC03 as a candidate for Congress, conservatives of east NC share my outrage of @SenatorBurr joining forces with the anti-Trump #Resistance to go after @DonaldJTrumpJr, a private citizen,cleared by the Mueller report after testifying 20+ hours.Time to end this madness — Dr. Greg Murphy (@DrGregMurphy1) May 11, 2019

Notably, no North Carolina Republicans were defending Burr–an interesting point. Some remained silent for now, but with the Trump team very fired up about this and demanding lawmakers take a position–Trump, Jr.’s team especially is taking a “with us or against us, no middle ground” approach to this, sources close to him say–it is likely only a matter of time before the rest of the delegation in North Carolina comes out on this issue.

“Our red lines aren’t like Obama’s,” a source close to the first family told Breitbart News. “We actually enforce them.”