'Betrayed': GOP senator's sneaky 5-minute switcheroo leaves even some Republicans fuming

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) pulled off a sneaky maneuver on Wednesday that left Republicans fuming almost as much as Democrats.

In a perfectly choreographed five-minute window, the GOP senator orchestrated what critics described as a brazen power grab that trampled democratic norms and blindsided some in his own party, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Daines had been fundraising as recently as Monday, insisting his race was critical to Senate control. At 4:52 p.m. on Wednesday, federal prosecutor Kurt Alme filed to run for Senate. Five minutes later, Daines withdrew from the race. When the ballot deadline hit at 5 p.m., it was too late for anyone else to jump in. Daines's announcement video followed, complete with snowcapped mountains and a Carhartt jacket, declaring his retirement.

The plot earned fierce backlash, with Republican former state legislator Al Olszewski, now running for Congress, slamming Daines on social media, saying he "just betrayed the trust of all Montanans."

“In this great state, we elect our own representatives,” he said. “We don’t simply accept replacements selected by the deep state and D.C. for them to lord power over us.”

Independent candidate Seth Bodnar called it dirty politics.

"Montanans are sick of these dirty political games — they’re sick of Washington insiders who trade power back and forth while Montanans continue to face higher costs," he said.

Daines claimed he was saving money and protecting GOP congressional majorities.

“A second midterm for a president, you have natural political headwinds. And my goal here was to try to make this race as least expensive as possible, given there’s a lot of expensive races on the map,” Daines told Semafor. “This was all about preventing this race from escalating into another $200-300 million race.”

Alme's sparse campaign website initially declared "Launching Soon" while establishment figures scrambled to validate the hand-picked successor.