It takes genuine courage to stand up to one’s own party and the threat of violence.
It takes genuine courage to stand up to one’s own party and the threat of violence.
I t took genuine courage for each of the ten House Republican members to vote in favor of impeaching President Trump on Wednesday.
Exactly one week before the vote, a mob of Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol and sent 15 police officers to the hospital — including one officer who died. If the mob was willing to savagely attack cops, it’s not hard to imagine what would have happened if they’d reached their intended targets.
The threat of violence hasn’t dissipated. Up to 20,000 members of the National Guard could be in Washington for the inauguration. According to GOP sources on a House Republican conference call on Monday, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy warned members before the impeachment vote not to verbally attack one another by name because it could endanger their lives.
Ten House Republicans nevertheless followed their conscience and voted to impeach Trump rather than submit to fear of what extremists might do to intimidate or harm them and their loved ones.
The ten Republicans are Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Peter Meijer of Michigan, Daniel Newhouse of Washington, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Fred Upton of Michigan, and David Valadao of California.
“The violent mob bludgeoned to death a Capitol police officer as they defaced symbols of our freedom. These terrorists roamed the Capitol, hunting the vice president and speaker of the House,” Herrera Beutler said on the House floor. “Hours went by before the president did anything meaningful to stop the attack. Instead, he and his lawyer were busy making calls to senators who were still in lockdown, seeking their support to further delay the Electoral College certification.”
Newhouse of Washington said in a speech on the House floor that the “articles of impeachment are flawed, but I will not use process as an excuse. There is no excuse for President Trump’s actions.” He expressed regret that he hadn’t “spoken out sooner.”
Meijer, an Iraq war veteran and freshman congressman, hailed the courage of police and leaders such as Vice President Pence who refused to bow to the mob. “There was no such courage from our President who betrayed and misled millions with claims of a ‘stolen election’ and encouraged loyalists that ‘if you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,’” Meijer said in a written statement. “The President betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the violent acts of insurrection last week.”
Rice of South Carolina said in a statement: “I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable.”
Cheney of Wyoming issued a piercing statement on Tuesday:
On January 6, 2021 a violent mob attacked the United States Capitol to obstruct the process of our democracy and stop the counting of presidential electoral votes. This insurrection caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic.
Much more will become clear in coming days and weeks, but what we know now is enough. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President. The President could have immediately and forcefully intervened to stop the violence. He did not. There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.
It’s hard to see a political upside for any of these members, but Cheney — the highest-ranking and highest-profile Republican to vote for impeachment — took on a unique level of personal and political risk. She is already being set up as a hate figure, and she is already facing blowback as members of the House Freedom Caucus are already calling for Cheney to be ousted from her position as the House GOP’s third-ranking member. This blowback was entirely predictable — just as predictable as it was that Cheney and her GOP colleagues who voted for impeachment could face primary challengers in 2022.
Cheney is still standing her ground. “I think it would be wrong to think about this decision, this vote, in the context of politics,” she said in comments to the Wyoming press after the impeachment vote.
“It was an insurrection. It was an attack in the very heart of our republic,” Cheney said. “There are some things that must never be partisan. And the defense of our Constitution, the defense of this republic, the defense of the peaceful transfer of power, ensuring that the Constitution and the constitutional duties we all have are carried out must never be partisan.”