Van Drew Says He Decided To Defect To GOP Over Pressure To Vote For Impeachment

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) shakes hands with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on December 19, 2019. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) finally explained on Sunday what exactly prompted him to break away from the Democratic Party: The pressure to impeach President Donald Trump.

In an interview with Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo, Van Drew recalled a conversation he’d had with a New Jersey county chair as being the “final sign” that he needed to switch to the GOP.

“‘You’ve got to vote for impeachment,'” Van Drew quoted the chair as saying. “‘If you don’t, you’re not going to be able to run in my county.'”

The ex-Democrat said he was bothered by how his “own individual opinion” on the issue was “not going to be allowed.”

“And that’s when I knew,” he told the Fox News host. “I had been thinking about it for a while.”

Van Drew officially switched to the Republican Party the day after he voted against impeaching Trump as a Democrat on Wednesday. Sitting in the Oval Office with Trump on Thursday, the new Republican told the President he had his “undying support.”

Watch Van Drew below:

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for ANNFFL ANNFFL says:

    Now you can have independent thinking in ttump cult!

    ps. Glad that it wasn’t House leadership who pressured him, which would be a bad look.

  2. Don’t forget to take #TraitorTulsi with you, shithead! Good riddance!

  3. If he wants to pledge undying support to Trump, how does that give him independence of opinion? Let’s be honest, he thought he would do better in his district as a Republican than a Democrat. Nothing more than that.

  4. Because if there’s any movement that encourages politicians to think for themselves it’s Trumpism!

    The bowel movement!

  5. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    Van Drew officially switched to the Republican Party the day after he voted against impeaching Trump as a Democrat on Wednesday.

    This gives the game away. If he really disliked the pressure campaign, he could have and should have changed Party affiliation immediately and voted “no” as a Republican. But it was more important to hand Trump a talking point.

    I doubt this guy will be in Congress much longer as neither Party has much respect for him. He’s the antithesis of the story on Senator Jones posted earlier today.

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