‘Would Do It Again’: GOP Rep Defends Vote To Impeach Trump Ahead Of GOP Primary

UNITED STATES - MAY 24: Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., listens during the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Trumps budget proposals for fiscal year 2018 on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Treasury Secretary Steven... UNITED STATES - MAY 24: Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., listens during the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Trumps budget proposals for fiscal year 2018 on Wednesday, May 24, 2017. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified during the hearing. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), who was among the 10 House Republicans that voted to impeach former President Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” on Sunday made clear that he does not regret his vote even as he faces backlash within his party ahead of his bid for re-election in the South Carolina GOP primary.

The primary next week follows the state GOP’s vote to censure Rice after his vote to impeach Trump last year. Rice is among the GOP lawmakers Trump vowed vengeance against in light of their impeachment votes, following the deadly Capitol insurrection amid the then-President’s fruitless attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.

Appearing on ABC News, Rice said his impeachment vote was not a “hard” decision, citing Trump’s inaction throughout most of Jan. 6 even after his then-Vice President Mike Pence’s life was endangered. Rice pointed to the crowd of Trump supporters chanting “hang Mike Pence” at the Capitol as the insurrection unfolded.

“When (Trump) watched the Capitol Police officers being beaten for three or four hours and lifted not one finger to stop it. The more I read about that, the more I learned about — it was clear to me what I had to do,” Rice said.

Rice said he is still “livid” about the events that unfolded on Jan. 6.

“I’m livid today about it,” Rice said. “Now, I took an oath to protect the Constitution and I did it then and I would do it again tomorrow.”

Rice said “the only way” he “might consider” supporting Trump is if the former president apologized for his “huge mistake” on Jan. 6.

Rice argued that if Trump were to launch another presidential bid, it would “hurt” the GOP.

Asked about Trump deriding him as a “total fool” during a recent appearance in his district, Rice said he voted with Trump 169 out of 190 times.

Rice argued that his vote to impeach Trump was ultimately the “conservative vote.”

“Defending the Constitution is a bedrock of the Republican platform, right? Defend the Constitution,” Rice said. “And that’s what I did. That was the conservative vote.”

Rice ended the interview by reiterating that he does not regret his impeachment vote even if he ends up losing the GOP primary.

“It will be worth it,” Rice said. “Absolutely.”

“I’ll wear it like a badge. So be it,” Rice added.

Watch Rice’s remarks below:

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Let’s take all the points we can get.

  2. Avatar for danny danny says:

    “…amid the then-President’s fruitless attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results.”

    Trump did subvert the 2020 election results, by one of the dictionary definitions of the word: to undermine confidence in. He’s continued to subvert them to this day.

  3. I commend Rep. Rice for his impeachment vote. It’s a sad state of affairs when doing the right thing requires an act of courage in the republican party, and that doing the right thing leads to censure.

    I believe Rice also said that Liz Cheney would be an excellent speaker should the goopers retake the house. He’s a luminary in the repub house membership, I hope he at least wins his primary.

  4. If this guy is a “point of light”, he’s a dim one at best. “…Rice said he voted with Trump 169 out of 190 times.”

  5. Good luck Mr. Rice on your primary.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

44 more replies

Participants

Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for zandru Avatar for voreason Avatar for rollinnolan Avatar for mickeyg Avatar for inversion Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for danny Avatar for joelopines Avatar for lastroth Avatar for hermagoras Avatar for darrtown Avatar for euglena4056 Avatar for justruss Avatar for karlwlewis Avatar for lanabill Avatar for easternash Avatar for dicktater Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for enceladus Avatar for Fire_Joni_Ernst Avatar for Ethics_Gradient Avatar for NewMexMom Avatar for Citydem

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: