Fresno Republicans blast GOP congressman over his vote to impeach Trump
Newly elected California Republican Rep. David Valadao drew criticism from his own party for his vote to impeach President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
The Fresno County Republican Party released a scathing statement Wednesday night, calling his vote “a slap in the face to those who worked on or donated to the congressman’s recent campaign.”
Valadao was just sworn in to the seat, having unseated former Democratic Rep. TJ Cox in the November election. Valadao represents a battleground district stretching from Fresno to Bakersfield in the southern San Joaquin Valley where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans. Joe Biden won the district in November, and Hillary Clinton received more votes than Trump in the district in 2016.
The local Republican party said Trump “has been essential to the success of the Republican Party,” and that Democrats “have no interest in healing the political divide in our country.”
“Congressman Valadao’s vote has shocked his constituents,” the statement concluded. “We could have expected the same vote from former Congressman TJ Cox.”
Fresno GOP Chairman Fred Vanderhoof said it was hard to say if this vote meant the local party would not support the Hanford congressman in future elections. He said they wouldn’t support him “if the election were held today.”
The Fresno County GOP has endorsement meetings in about a year for the 2022 election cycle.
The impeachment articles approved by the House on Wednesday say Trump encouraged “lawless behavior” when he spoke to supporters who then marched on the U.S. Capitol. Some of them attacked police and invaded the building as lawmakers met to certify 2020 election results. The attack directly resulted in five deaths, including one Capitol police officer.
Trump told the crowd, ‘If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore.’”
He told the activists to head to the Capitol, where he wanted them to “try and give our Republicans, the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help, we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.”
The impeachment resolution also condemns Trump’s efforts over the past two months to undermine confidence in the 2020 election by repeatedly claiming without evidence that it was tarnished by fraud.
Valadao was one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump along with 222 Democrats. In a statement explaining his vote, he also criticized Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for turning it into “a rushed political stunt,” saying he wished the House could have held hearings over the issue instead of voting on impeachment one week after the attack occurred.
Vanderhoof went further, telling McClatchy that Democrats were engaging in “dangerous hypocrisy,” since some Black Lives Matter protests resulted in violence and deaths but Democrats didn’t take the same steps. Vanderhoof also said he did not put any blame on Trump for what happened at the Capitol.
Trump not ‘inflammatory at all’
“He didn’t encourage people to do what happened,” Vanderhoof said. “I don’t think his rhetoric is inflammatory at all.”
Valadao’s office pointed to his prior statement about his vote when asked about the criticisms of the Fresno County Republican Party.
“Based on the facts before me, I have to go with my gut and vote my conscience. I voted to impeach President Trump,” Valadao said in his statement. “His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It’s time to put country over politics.”
The Senate now has to take up the impeachment articles and decide whether it’s appropriate to remove Trump from office or clear him. The last time Trump was impeached, all but one Senate Republican voted to clear him.
However, the Senate is unlikely to take up the articles of impeachment before Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. The Senate could prevent him from seeking elected office in the future, and Trump has already mused about running for president again in 2024.
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 12:07 PM.
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