GOP Rep Who Voted to Impeach Trump Drops Out of 2022 Race Rather Than Face MAGA Primary Challenger
An Ohio Republican congressman who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump says he will walk away from Congress rather than fight to retain his seat against a Trump-supported challenger.
In an interview with The New York Times, Rep. Anthony Gonzalez trashed Trump as “a cancer for the country.”
Trump is supporting Republican Max Miller against Gonzalez and has already made one trip to Ohio to raise money on Miller’s behalf.
Miller, a former aide in the Trump White House, has said Gonzalez betrayed supporters when he voted to impeach Trump.
I’m running for Congress to stand up for Northeast Ohioans.
They overwhelmingly voted for the America First agenda.
But their Congressman betrayed them when he voted to impeach President Trump.
I won’t back down. And I’ll never betray them.
Join me. https://t.co/s4r2WEpv43
— Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) February 26, 2021
Gonzalez, who played wide receiver at Ohio State and had a brief NFL career, said the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol incursion and the subsequent divisions within the Republican Party over Trump’s role in its future have soured him on working with the Republicans in the House.
“Politically the environment is so toxic, especially in our own party right now,” he said. “You can fight your butt off and win this thing, but are you really going to be happy? And the answer is, probably not.”
He called the incursion “a line-in-the-sand moment” and said Trump must be kept from returning to power.
“I don’t believe he can ever be president again,” Gonzalez said. “Most of my political energy will be spent working on that exact goal.”
Miller tweeted Trump’s statement in response to the announcement.
“RINO Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who has poorly represented his district in the Great State of Ohio, has decided to quit after enduring a tremendous loss of popularity, of which he had little, since his ill-informed and otherwise very stupid impeachment vote against the sitting President of the United States, me,” he said in a statement issued by his PAC.
“This is no loss for Ohio or our Country and, most importantly, we have a great candidate who was substantially leading Gonzalez in the polls, Max Miller, who I have given my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Trump said.
“Good riddance to Anthony, he can now get himself a job at ratings-dead CNN or MSDNC!”
Thank you for your support Mr. President!!! https://t.co/lnkqYQmucX
— Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) September 17, 2021
Gonzalez said he faced what he termed a “brutally hard primary.” He said that although he would have won, he decided he did not want to be part of the party’s future direction as he sees it.
“This is the direction that we’re going to go in for the next two years and potentially four, and it’s going to make Trump the center of fund-raising efforts and political outreach,” Gonzalez said. “That’s not something I’m going to be part of.”
I look forward to the future of this campaign as we continue fighting alongside President Trump to unite the MAGA movement in taking back the House with America First fighters. The Biden Administration must be put in check!
— Max Miller (@MaxMillerOH) September 17, 2021
Gonzalez said Trump is less popular than many party leaders believe.
“Where I see a big gap is, most people that I speak to back home agree with the policies but they also want us to move on from the person” and “the sort of resentment politics that has taken over the party,” he said.
Gonzalez is among 10 House Republicans who voted to support the failed impeachment effort instigated by Democrats after the Capitol incursion.
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