Michigan Rep. Justin Amash has, in his own July Fourth words, declared his independence from the Republican Party.
“Today, I am declaring my independence and leaving the Republican Party,” Amash wrote in a Washington Post op-ed. “No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system—and to work toward it.”
Amash, the only Republican member of the House of Representatives to say publicly that the Mueller Report showed President Donald Trump committed impeachable offenses, claimed that his decision to leave the GOP was motivated by the crisis in our politics.
Amash said that he is “frightened” by what party politics has become, adding that the two-party system has morphed into “an existential threat to American principles and institutions.” Therefore, he declared his independence.
This happens after Amash, a libertarian, went on Twitter and explained why he believed Trump should be impeached. Trump responded by calling Amash a “total lightweight.” Amash also accused Attorney General William Barr of misrepresenting the findings of the Mueller Report in advance of the report’s release.
Amash even ended up stepping down from the House Freedom Caucus in June — a caucus he co-founded in 2015 to include liberty-minded Republicans.
When the polls started indicating that Jim Lower, a relatively unknown Amash challenger in Michigan, was experiencing some early success, Donald Trump Jr. piled on.
“See you soon Justin… I hear Michigan is beautiful during primary season,” Trump Jr. tweeted.
At the time Amash said a couple of things. One: “First, I’m not going to lose, and second, I don’t have any regrets about doing the right thing [on impeachment]. I didn’t run for office to sell out my principles to the party or to any one person.” Two:
President Trump, also on July Fourth, celebrated Amash “quitting” the GOP, calling him “one of the dumbest & most disloyal men in Congress.”
[Images via Mark Wilson/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images]
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