Two members of the U.S. House from Michigan voted Wednesday to impeach President Donald J. Trump over allegations that he “incited an insurrection” at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. last week.
“I was in the House chamber when it was being attacked a week ago today. That was a moment that called for leadership. I was hoping to see the President rapidly try to de-escalate, try to denounce, try to stop the violence from occurring, and he abandoned his post,” freshman Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI-03) told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, explaining his vote in favor of impeachment.
“To me that was disqualifying. My heart broke in that time, seeing folks ransacking the Capitol. And since then, the President has not accepted responsibility,” Meijer continued. “I hold the seat that was held by Gerald Ford for 25 years before he was elevated to the White House. He pardoned Richard Nixon, but that was after Richard Nixon resigned and was held accountable for his actions. And here, there must be accountability.”
Meijer, an heir to the $10 billion Meijer supermarket chain, recently replaced former Republican Justin Amash, who quit the party and retired amid public criticism of Trump.
Tom Norton, who ran against Meijer in the Republican primary in MI-03, spoke out against impeachment in a conversation with The Michigan Star.
He said:
The President only has eight days left. This impeachment will destroy what little is left of Constitutional process and integrity. Impeachment will make Trump into a martyr.
Free speech is under assault. Conservatives are being fired from their jobs for peacefully protesting because they were near a riot. Conservative social media platforms are being shut down and banned. Yet Antifa and the far left can kill Americans in the street, loot and burn buildings, and murder retired minority cops and children. The far left cheers them as patriots. Biden, Harris, Pelosi and their allies have incited more death and violence over the past year than Donald trump has in four years.
Our anger is because all Americans have been left behind. It took Pelosi seven months to send billions of dollars overseas and give Americans a 600 dollar check after destroying livelihoods. But Donald Trump says “Go peacefully protest,” a riot starts, and somehow he alone incited insurrection.
Meijer’s office could not be reached for comment.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI-06) also voted in favor of impeachment.
In a Tuesday press release, he explained his reasoning.
“Today the President characterized his inflammatory rhetoric at last Wednesday’s rally as “totally appropriate,” and he expressed no regrets for last week’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. This sends exactly the wrong signal to those of us who support the very core of our democratic principles and took a solemn oath to the Constitution. I would have preferred a bipartisan, formal censure rather than a drawn-out impeachment process. I fear this will now interfere with important legislative business and a new Biden Administration. But it is time to say: Enough is enough.
The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next. Thus, I will vote to impeach.”
Upton’s office did not return a comment request.
Those who voted to impeach Trump, including Meijer and Upton, were hailed as heroes by the establishment GOP at The Lincoln Project, who called them “courageous defenders of the constitution.”
These members are courageous defenders of the constitution:
Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH)
Peter Meijer (R-MI)
Fred Upton (R-MI)
Liz Cheney (R-WY)
John Katko (R-NY)
Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)
Tom Rice (R-SC)
Jamie Herrera Beutler (R-WA)
Dan Newhouse (R-WA)
David Valadao (R-CA)— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) January 13, 2021
This is the second time that Trump has been successfully impeached in the U.S. House. The first time, the U.S. Senate lacked the requisite votes for his removal from office.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Michigan Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fred Upton” by Fred Upton.
