Republican Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer said that his vote to support the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump “may very well have” ended his political career.
In a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Meijer was asked by host George Stephanopoulos if he thought he committed “political suicide” with his vote because Trump still “has such a strong hold on the Republican party.”
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“Oh, I may very well have, 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 the country,” Meijer began. “I want to make sure that we have leaders in office who are folks saying, you know, the fact that we are a nation of laws, not men, and who are putting the interest of the country first rather than our own political careers.”
Meijer and nine other House Republicans, including House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, joined every House Democrat in voting in favor of the articles of impeachment on Jan.13, making this the second time that Trump has been impeached. The impeachment vote came following allegations that Trump incited the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump subsequently released a video statement explicitly condemning the violence.
Stephanopoulos followed up by asking Meijer about the pressure that Cheney is receiving from Republican colleagues who want to “remove her from leadership” and if he thought it would happen. Some members of the House Freedom Caucus have called on her to resign from her leadership position. (RELATED: ‘I’m Not Going Anywhere’: Liz Cheney Responds To Resignation Calls After Backing Trump Impeachment)
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that those who stood by their principles, like Liz Cheney, that that is not something that is punished,” Meijer answered. “I know there is a division that has already occurred. We need to address some of the issues that we have within, you know, the congressional Republican conference, but I have been very impressed by the leadership that Liz Cheney has shown.”
Meijer went on to answer a question from Stephanopoulos on where the Republican party is headed and if it should “move on from President Trump.”
“The president brought some necessary energy. He brought some necessary ideas. He shook the tree. He was a change agent,” Meijer said. “The challenge was that 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.”