COLOMBIA, SC (WMBF) – The Republican Party of South Carolina formally censored US Representative Tom Rice for his impeachment vote.
About two weeks ago, Rice was one of 10 Republicans who voted for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accused of inciting a deadly riot on the United States Capitol.
After this vote, a letter and a potential resolution to censor the congressman at the grassroots level began to form in the 7th Congressional District of South Carolina. This resolution reached the State Executive Committee for voting.
At a quarterly meeting on Saturday, the SCGOP State Executive Committee passed the resolution to formally censor Rice. Censorship is a formal statement of disapproval.
Although censorship is a symbolic measure, it is rare for the party to invoke it on an acting congressman.
“We made our disappointment clear on the night of the impeachment vote. Trying to impeach a president, with a week left of his term, is never legitimate and is nothing more than a political kick to get out the door, ”he said. SCGOP President Drew McKissick. “Congressman Rice’s vote unfortunately got into the Democrats’ game, and the people in his district and, ultimately, on our State Executive Committee, wanted him to know that they totally disagree with his decision.”
Rice has faced a strong reaction from the Republican Party, but has said several times that she does not regret her vote for impeachment.
“I did the right thing, I know I did the right thing,” Rice told WMBF News on Saturday after the SCGOP vote. “It’s interesting to me that people are so willing to let this guy put all these people in danger, make six people dead, just watch the Capitol police get beaten, one to death, while he watches on TV and does nothing to prevent . I am not a team player just because I run as a Republican ”.
Rice added that he is on the fence about how he should vote many times during his time in Congress, but added that this was not one of those votes.
“It would have been so easy, it would have been so easy for me to press ‘No’ on that impeachment article like most other Republicans did, and no one would have said a word. But I know it was wrong, ”added Rice.
Rice said before the SCGOP meeting, that she tried to contact the state party. He said that no one notified him about the meeting, and he heard about it from the news. Rice said the party did not return his call.
Rice added that he strongly supports the former president and said his background shows that. He said he understood that a vote for Trump’s impeachment would be controversial for many in District 7.
South Carolina state deputy William Bailey, who represents District 104 in Horry County, called Rice’s censorship historic.
“Today, the Republican Party of South Carolina took a historic vote to censor Republican Congressman Tom Rice. Never before has this unprecedented action been taken against a congressman with everyone except two members of the Executive Committee voting for censorship. When Congressman Tom Rice joined just nine other congressmen to accuse President Donald Trump, he showed the people of his district and South Carolina residents across the state that he no longer represents his interests, ”said Bailey in a statement. .
Bailey announced a few days ago that he is forming an exploratory committee to possibly face Rice and take his seat. The Horry County representative said he received hundreds of calls, emails and text messages encouraging him to run against Rice.
Horry County School Council President Ken Richardson and former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride are also looking into the possibility of running against Rice.
Complete statement by Congressman Tom Rice on censorship:
I have been a strong and loyal supporter of the Republican Party of South Carolina for over a decade. I was with them, campaigned with them, provided resources to their candidates and was in their corner through good and bad times. Since I was elected to Congress, I have contributed more than $ 2 million to our national party to help Republican candidates for Congress.
In Washington, I fought with President Trump to cut taxes on small businesses, invest in new infrastructure, adopt an America First Trade policy, build our border wall, prevent new arms restrictions and pass the historic 2018 Agricultural Law Together, and because of President Trump’s leadership, the United States has seen historic economic growth and we have gone through countless other historic achievements. To accuse me of not supporting President Trump is to ignore my 94% pro-Trump vote record.
My vote for President Trump’s impeachment did not reflect on his policies, his effectiveness, his achievements, nor my conservative values and voting history. It was a vote to honor my oath of office. That oath was not for President McKissick, nor for the Republican SC Party, nor for President Trump. This oath, made on the basis of the Bible, was to protect and defend our Constitution.
I personally witnessed a Capitol insurrection on January 6. I saw the rebels who demanded the hanging of Vice President Pence. I heard the shots and smelled the tear gas. I was at the Capitol when the Capitol Police were invaded and Officer Sicknick gave his life, in the hands of this mob, to honor the oath he took to defend our Constitution. I saw, like all of us, the president’s lack of leadership in not stopping the crowd, his callous actions saying that Mike Pence lacked courage, and his comments, in the midst of the turmoil, that “These are the things that happen when the victory he is cruelly stripped of these great patriots … remember this day forever. “
For President Trump: those were not “patriots” who killed Officer Sicknick. And threatening to hang our vice president on an impromptu gallows on the Capitol lawn is not something that just “happens”. You could have intervened quickly and forcefully to prevent the deadly siege of the United States Capitol and you did not.
To my friends in the Republican SC Party: I will not sit idly by and ignore the oath I made before God, when the evidence is so clear. President Trump bears much of the responsibility for this attack. I cannot ignore this blatant violation of our constitution, regardless of whether the president is Republican or Democratic, or whether his name is Donald Trump. It seems that my friends from the Republican Party of South Carolina have obscured their own creed, which states: “I will never shrink from any teacher except my God.”
I was not informed of today’s meeting. For President McKissick and several other members of the State Executive Committee, if you had returned my call, I would have said that I have no ill will towards the Republican Party of SC and will continue to promote our shared values, to create opportunities for everyone .
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