Democratic Michigan Rep. Brenda Lawrence backed off her push to censure President Trump and says she will vote to impeach the president.
Lawrence committed to voting for impeachment in a Tuesday interview on MSNBC with host Chris Jansing. Lawrence’s pledge comes two days after she told a Michigan radio host that she supported censuring Trump and leaving his removal up to the American people in the 2020 election.
“We have had a very thorough investigation, and the crimes of impeachment has been documented, and I’m moving forward with that,” Lawrence said. “Hopefully, we’ll take a vote, and I will be voting for impeachment.”
On Sunday, Lawrence backed away from impeaching Trump in an interview on No BS News Hour with host Charlie LeDuff.
“We are so close to an election. I will tell you, sitting here knowing how divided this country is, I don’t see the value of taking him out of office,” Lawrence said, explaining her then-choice of censure. “I do see the value of putting down a marker saying his behavior is not acceptable.”
Lawrence said on MSNBC that she had been targeting Senate Republicans that have signaled they will vote to acquit the president during an impeachment trial.
“At minimum, [GOP senators] have to say you must censure this president so no president coming into office will think and assume that this type of behavior is acceptable,” Lawrence said. “It is a shock to our democracy. It is a slap in the face to all of us here where we bring in a foreign entity to interfere in our election.”
Lawrence also pushed back against any characterization of her comments as flipping on impeachment. Lawrence asserted that she had supported impeachment proceedings against Trump since 2017.
“The fact is I have not flipped. The fact is is that our country is so divided, and, for me, impeachment is the process that we and I must take in my sworn oath to this country,” Lawrence stated. “I am so troubled by this deliberate attempt to minimize the actions of this president.”
[Read more: Would they have the votes? Dozens of moderate Democrats face impeachment pressure]
