Former President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed the primary opponent of an Ohio congressman who voted to impeach him.
Trump endorsed Max Miller, a former Marine reservist and White House staffer, almost immediately after Miller announced his primary challenge to Republican Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez voted to impeach Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot.
And there it is – Trump makes his first endorsement against one of the 10 House Rs who backed his impeachment: “Current Rep. Anthony Gonzalez should not be representing the people of the 16th district because he does not represent their interest or their heart.”
— Alex Isenstadt (@politicoalex) February 26, 2021
“Current Rep. Anthony Gonzalez should not be representing the people of the 16th district because he does not represent their interest or their heart,” Trump said in a statement, according to Politico’s Alex Isenstadt.
Gonzalez, a former football player for Ohio State and the Indianapolis Colts, was first elected to Congress in 2018. Gonzalez voted with Trump 86% of his time in office, according to Five Thirty Eight, including opposing the revocation of the president’s declaration of an emergency to construct his border wall. However, Gonzalez broke with Trump over his claims of election fraud, voting to certify the entire 2020 electoral slate. He was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach the president for his actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“I believe that this is the right vote, and I believe it sends the right message to all future presidents and anybody who considers taking the Oval Office,” Gonzalez told NBC News of his decision to impeach. (RELATED: House Votes To Impeach President Trump For The Second Time)
Miller, who served as a senior advisor to Trump, currently sits on the United State Holocaust Memorial Council Board of Trustees. He criticized Gonzalez’s impeachment vote, tweeting that Gonzalez “betrayed [Ohioans] when he voted to impeach President Trump.”