After saying President Trump’s behavior during the Russian collusion investigation rose to the level of impeachment over a week ago, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., made his first public appearance Tuesday night at a town hall in his district.
He got standing ovations. He also got criticized.
It was a major event that made national news precisely because, outside of social media, it was the first time anyone had really had the opportunity to either praise or condemn the libertarian Republican to his face.
This is noteworthy.
After Amash called for Trump’s impeachment, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the independent-minded congressman was just “looking for attention.” Many Republicans echoed the same sentiment. They still do.
But if it’s attention he seeks, Amash has a funny way of looking for it. In fact, outside of some explanatory tweeting, he’s been running from it ever since this story began.
Since his original tweets, Amash still hasn’t made any media appearances. Nearly every major cable and network outlet requested interviews with him. Nearly every major newspaper did the same. Nearly every major news site reached out, even for just a comment.
He obliged none of them. The closest you will get is reporters asking him questions while walking on Capitol Hill, going about his daily business.
After Stephen Colbert did a segment praising Amash, a source close to the congressman told me “The Late Show” aggressively lobbied to get him to appear with Colbert. Amash declined.
How many in Congress would do the same? Likewise, how many politicians would trip all over themselves trying to get this kind of national platform? Most.
Amash has never been a media hound. I’ve always lamented the fact that he doesn’t do more media because he’s telegenic and libertarians need as many quality leaders on television as possible.
But it’s not his style. Longtime observers of his career get that. As CNN’s Haley Byrd tweeted on May 21 when the congressmen spoke to school kids, “Justin Amash is very much the kind of person who would make a ton of news by saying the president engaged in impeachable conduct, not go on TV amid a barrage of interview requests over the weekend, and then take time to elaborate on his position to a group of school children.”
Whether his critics want to believe it or not, whether one agrees or disagrees with his views on impeachment and Trump (for the record, I side more with libertarian Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on this issue) what Amash says is always born of conviction. His libertarian and his conservative principles stand second to none in Washington.
“I’m a big believer in liberty and the Constitution,” Amash said at his town hall Tuesday. “Nobody cares about liberty in Congress more than I do.”
“One thing you see around the world is liberty cannot survive in a system where people hate each other and where there is no virtue,” he continued. “You can’t have a system like that.”
Amash spoke a lot about the current public vitriol in our politics during his town hall. Maybe he also didn’t want to contribute to the non-stop partisan noise? That would also be very much like him.
Amash said what he felt compelled to say about the president’s investigation, his story exploded, and then he backed away from the limelight as much as possible.
Unless it’s a scandal, who else in Washington does this?
Critics can continue to wonder what Justin Amash is seeking, and no doubt will. But it’s not attention.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.
