HORRY COUNTY – A week after shocking the nation, U.S. Republican Rep. Tom Rice faced a mixture of responses from his constituents about his surprise vote for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
Rice phoned City Hall on Monday mainly to provide updates on the vaccination effort for COVID-19, but most of the questions she received dealt with the US Capitol building riots on January 6 and her vote in favor of impeachment .
Although the city hall technically asked questions, many of the visitors used their moments to tell Rice that they would never vote for him again, while others thanked him for taking a stand. Some simply wanted to hear his thoughts straight from the source, and an interlocutor asked why he hadn’t faced Trump before.
“From what I see, regardless of the terrible violence in Washington, you voted to impeach our president and voted against your voters,” said one person on the phone. “Basically, you committed political suicide because next time, I don’t think you’re going to be elected. “
Horry County Republican Party co-chairman Dreama Perdue said the constituents he heard about were angry. And on their behalf, she joined other party leaders to show her opposition to his vote, wanting to formally rebuke him.
Due to SC GOP rules, it is unclear whether the effort to formally censor Rice would be possible in time for the state party’s executive committee quarterly meeting on Saturday.
Rice was one of 10 Republicans in Congress to vote for impeachment and the only member of the Southern Republican Party in the group. The congressman has always supported Trump, working with the president in the past to draft tax and economic reform laws, but the events of January 6 changed his outlook.
“I campaigned for him more than for myself,” Rice said of his loyalty to the president. “I didn’t apply to protect Donald Trump, I took an oath to protect the Constitution.”
During the disturbances that attempted to prevent certification of the 2020 Electoral College results, Rice found himself surrounded by a barricade in an office as protesters roamed the Capitol building calling for Vice President Mike Pence. Trump chose Pence for support that day during his “Stop Theft” campaign rally and the vice president had to be taken to safety.
Rice said he felt betrayed by his party leader.
“The fact that the president did this to Mike Pence, who supported him for four years … It is inexcusable and unbelievable that a person can be so disloyal to people who have been loyal to him,” said Rice.
Some callers thanked Rice for her position, adding that the vote helps to heal the party divide that threatens to split the country in half.
“I cried on 9/11, when our country was attacked by strangers,” said another person on the phone. “But I cried, perhaps even more so, watching our own people attack our government.”
Another person who called said he had always supported Rice politically and will continue to do so even after the impeachment vote.
“I think you’re a statesman for doing that,” he said.
Rice said two-thirds of the 6,000 messages sent to her office were from constituents against her impeachment vote. On the other hand, 80 percent of the 500 messages he received on his own cell phone and personal email were supportive of him.
The vote has already inspired some to consider challenging Rice in 2022. Horry County School Council President Ken Richardson has expressed interest in the position, but after the system has gone through the pandemic.
Despite not addressing any particular opponent, Rice said he knows that his vote could cost him re-election and that Trump can start working against him. But he told people who called against him that he would work hard to earn his trust in the coming months. He said he will never be someone who allows party politics to stop him from doing what he thinks is best for the district.
“If you want a congressman who will bow to the bullies and back off when people threaten, who will not do the right thing and agree with the crowd … I’m not your guy,” said Rice. “But if you want someone who stands up for what is right and protects our Constitution like I swore to do, I’m your guy.”
Jamie Lovegrove contributed to this report.