Calls by Rep. Justin Amash for President Trump’s impeachment aren’t going over well with some fellow Republicans in his Michigan district.
A “squash Amash” rally is set for June 14 in Grand Rapids, the key population center in the 3rd District, which he has represented since 2011. The group Michigan Trump Republicans is targeting Amash over what they call his apostasy for backing impeachment of the president due to findings about interactions with Russia and obstruction of justice revealed by special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
In a widely-read Twitter thread, Amash said Trump engaged in “specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meets the threshold for impeachment” and that the president “violated the public trust.”
Amash, the only Republican to back impeachment of Trump, has angered the party establishment. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, a fellow Michigander, accused Amash of promoting “parroting the Democrats” talk of collusion. Trump called Amash a “total lightweight.” He’s even angered some students at his alma mater, the University of Michigan, where he earned his undergraduate and law degrees. University of Michigan College Republicans wrote in a Facebook post Amash is a “attention-seeking, NeverTrump” Republican-in-name only.
Heading into his 2020 reelection campaign Amash faces primary challenges from a pair of Republicans, in a district that favored Trump in 2016.
Amash defended his views at a town hall last week in Grand Rapids. He engaged in a few heated exchanges with Trump-supporting constituents, but many were relatively supportive.
