“I would prefer that we have a more comprehensive investigation into what happened. Most of what I know about January 6 came from personal experience or from Twitter. But at the end of the day, I think it is obvious that the president is no longer qualified to occupy that position, “Meijer told Erin Burnett of CNN on the” Out Front “.
Pressed on whether he had made a final decision on impeachment, Meijer said he “will wait to see the additional evidence presented, but again, this is something we are strongly considering”.
While some Republican lawmakers have called for Trump’s resignation – notably Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania – Meijer’s public position is a notable break from most House Republicans who are asking Democrats not to seek impeachment, arguing that a change would cause division.
Instead, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, in a letter to colleagues in the Republican Party, listed four potential responses to the January 6 attack. McCarthy, citing member feedback, suggested the possibility of “a censorship resolution under House rules”, as well as a bipartisan commission to investigate the disturbances, according to the letter. He did not specify who would be censored.
But Meijer said that Trump’s response on Monday to the Capitol violation was an “abject failure of leadership” and that while some colleagues have told him that they are concerned about the timing of the impeachment process, he has not heard anyone ” arguing the merits “.
“At the moment, we are only silent. This is extremely worrying,” he said. “I am very concerned about the violence, not only that it has already been horrible, it could have been much worse, but I also continue with the expectation that there will be more violence.”