Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) said on Jan. 17 that joining with nine House Republicans in voting to impeach President Donald Trump may have ended his political future.
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Meijer, a first-term Republican, told host George Stephanopoulos said he doesn’t regret it.
“I may very well have [ended my career], but I think it’s also important that we have elected leaders who are not thinking solely about what’s in their individual self-interest, not what is going to be politically expedient, but what we actually need for our country,” Meijer said.
“The president brought some necessary energy. He brought some necessary ideas. He shook the tree. He was a change agent,” he said of Trump. “The challenge was he didn’t know when to stop, and he didn’t draw a line, and to me, political violence is the line that we must draw.”
Meijer’s comments came after Jason Miller, chief strategist for the Trump campaign, warned last week that Republicans who back the impeachment of Trump would likely be voted out of office.
“If you’re a Republican House member, or you’re a Republican senator, I don’t know how else to say this: you are probably self-selecting to end your political future if you vote for the impeachment of President Trump,” Miller said on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.
Elected officials, he said, “understand their own elections,” and Trump voters “will hold anyone who votes for impeachment accountable.”
Before House members voted on the article of impeachment charging Trump with “inciting violence,” Deputy Minority Whip Tom Cole (R-Okla.), urged his colleagues not to join the Democratic-led effort, warning that it would only further divide the country.
“I can think of no action the House can take that is more likely to further divide the American people than the action we are contemplating today,” he said. “Emotions are clearly running high, and political divisions have never been more apparent in my lifetime. We desperately need to seek a path toward healing for the American people.”
Cole also warned about the danger of rushing the impeachment proceedings without necessary due-process safeguards.
“In moving ahead now, the majority is foregoing an investigation, committee hearings, fact witnesses, and expert witnesses,” Cole said. “They’re foregoing an opportunity for members to ask questions, to review the evidence, to hear new pieces of evidence, and to consult with experts on impeachment and the constitution. And they’re forgoing an opportunity for the president, as accused, to be heard.”
