COLOMBIA – Senior officials from the Republican Party of South Carolina voted on Saturday to censor US Representative Tom Rice for his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, delivering a rare formal reprimand to one of his own congressmen.
The SC GOP executive committee passed a censorship resolution that criticized Rice, a Republican from Myrtle Beach starting his fifth term in Congress, for participating in a process that they argued blamed Trump unfairly for inciting the deadly riots of June 6. January at the US Capitol, party officials told the Post and the Courier.
“In the first and most consequent vote in the new session, Mr. Rice allied himself with (Democratic House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi and the unprincipled leftists in voting for the president’s impeachment, betraying Republican voters who enthusiastically supported Mr. Rice during the last two electoral cycles, “said the resolution, according to a copy obtained by the Post and Courier.
Rice told the Post and Courier that she still defends her impeachment vote, even after censorship by the state party. He criticized the Republican Party leadership for not seeing how Trump incited the protesters and failed to do enough to condemn the protesters as they ransacked the U.S. Capitol building to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.
“I think the Republican Party of South Carolina has forgotten its own creed that says, ‘I’m not going to cringe before anyone except my God.’ It seems to me that they are shrinking before Donald Trump, ”said Rice. “If the president who did what Donald Trump did that day and sent a crowd to paralyze Congress and the result was an attack on the legislative power of the United States government, this is a clear violation of the constitution. It is absolutely a crime or misdemeanor. I don’t care if the president who does this is Republican or Democratic, I’m voting for impeachment ”.
Rice, who is likely to face a major challenge in the primaries to keep his seat even after supporting Trump’s presidential campaigns and fiscal policies, said he will continue to work in leading the Republican Party after his censorship, although he wants party leaders to speak with him before Saturday’s vote.
The SC GOP censorship was approved by verbal vote, with 43 members in favor of the resolution, no members against and two abstentions, according to SC GOP spokeswoman Claire Robinson. Voting members came from 41 of the state’s 46 counties.
Although the symbolic movement no longer carries penalties, it represents an extraordinary rebuke for a Republican congressman in office by the state party and further demonstrates the extent of the political consequences that Rice is facing among Republican activists in her home state and her district that covers the Pee Dee.
The last time the SC GOP voted to censor a high-profile elected official in the state was more than a decade ago, when they approved one for then Gov. Mark Sanford after admitting to secretly going on a multi-day tour to Argentina to maintain an extramarital affair.
SC GOP President Drew McKissick, who immediately expressed frustration with Rice shortly after the impeachment vote, said Saturday’s censorship shows disapproval from the party’s base.
“This is the kind of thing you expect from Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership, but it was really disappointing to see any Republican approve of it, to participate in any form or style, and I think it works in the Democrats’ game,” said McKissick.
McKissick said he does not believe Trump deserves any blame for the violence on the Capitol, pointing to news reports in the weeks since he suggested the riot was planned before Trump’s speech at the National Mall. Trump has repeatedly praised the planned protest on his Twitter feed, encouraging supporters to attend a “wild” demonstration.
The SC GOP executive committee also voted unanimously in favor of a resolution that condemns all political violence.
South Carolina is not the first state in recent weeks to see the Republican Party censor Republican officials for separating from Trump.
The Arizona Republican Party voted last week in favor of similar resolutions for former Sen. Jeff Flake and Cindy McCain, widow of former Sen. John McCain, for criticizing Trump. They also blamed Governor Doug Ducey for the emergency restrictions he put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Some pro-Trump Republicans in Massachusetts are also trying to censor their Republican governor Charlie Baker for supporting the impeachment.
Rice’s vote for impeachment came as a shock to many in his heavily republican district and beyond, given Congressman’s long history of supporting Trump.
He campaigned for Trump during the 2016 and 2020 election cycles and was involved in creating tax reform initiatives that have become one of Trump’s most esteemed accomplishments in office.
But on January 6, when hundreds of Trump-branded suits stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to prevent Congress from approving the results of the 2020 elections, Rice said he changed his mind about the president’s ability to lead.
After the riots, Rice further supported the objection to election results out of concern that some electoral laws would be changed without the constitutional authority to do so.
But in the days following that vote, Rice said he was increasingly frustrated by Trump’s lackluster response to violence, police deaths and his lack of support for Vice President Mike Pence.
On the day of the impeachment vote, Rice said he would like the impeachment articles to never be put to the vote. But when asked if he thought Trump should be president or not, he was one of 10 Republicans to break party lines and support impeachment.
He was the only Republican in the South to vote in favor of impeachment, and the only member of Congress to support both the objection to the election results and the subsequent impeachment.
Horry County Republican Party co-chairman Dreama Perdue said she and other county presidents began the process of censoring Rice immediately after hearing about her vote. She said she wanted it officially registered that the party does not support Rice turning against Trump.
The resolution was drafted by Republican Party officials across the Rice district and first passed by the Marion County Republican Party, who then sent it to the state committee for voting.
Rice has not faced primary opponents in the past two election cycles, but that will certainly change in her next campaign.
Within hours of his impeachment vote, other Republican politicians in the area, including Horry County School Council President Ken Richardson, began to publicly consider the idea of running for president in 2022.
State Representative William Bailey, R-Little River, formally stated that he created an exploratory committee for Rice’s primaries this week, and more candidates are expected to announce in the coming weeks and months.
Bailey applauded SC GOP’s “historic vote” on Saturday to censor Rice, saying Rice’s impeachment vote “showed the people in his district and South Carolina residents across the state that he no longer represents his interests.
Given that Rice must face several opponents, McKissick said he does not expect the state party to get involved in the primaries in a direct effort to remove him from office.
During a contentious telephone meeting at City Hall with voters this week, Rice said he voted for his conscience, acknowledging that the move could cost him re-election, but saying he expects voters to respect that he stands up for what he thinks is right.