Rep. Justin Amash, First & Only Republican In Office To Call For Trump Impeachment, Loses Donor Support
Last week, Minnesota Representative Justin Amash became the first and only Republican in office to call for the impeachment of President Donald Trump. As The Inquisitr reported, in a 13-tweet thread Amash broke with the rest of his party, writing that Trump “has engaged in impeachable conduct.”
Amash, he explained, read the Mueller report and drew four principal conclusions from the document. Following a review of Mueller investigation-related documents and testimonies, and consultation with his staff, the representative concluded that President Trump had obstructed justice.
Echoing Democratic criticism, the Minnesota lawmaker criticized Attorney General William Barr, accusing him of “misleading” the public about the special counsel’s findings pertaining to potential obstruction of justice by the president. Amash concluded the thread by criticizing members of both parties for not remaining principled, pointing out that many of his Republican colleagues had criticized Democratic presidents for doing what Trump has done.
“Never a fan of @justinamash, a total lightweight who opposes me and some of our great Republican ideas and policies just for the sake of getting his name out there through controversy,” President Trump blasted the lawmaker in a tweet, calling him a “loser.”
As Vox reported, other Republicans were quick to join Trump in criticism of Amash, but the lawmaker has since doubled down on his accusations, refusing to back down.
He is already paying the price.
According to a new report from the Center for Responsive Politics, Amash is losing donor support.
After calling for impeachment, “the libertarian-leaning Amash has been abandoned by many prominent Republican leaders and donors who have given him thousands of dollars in financial backing. And now he faces a Trump-supporting primary challenger.”
Amash, who “has been a bit of a fundraising lightweight,” according to the report, was first elected to the House in 2010. One of the founding members of the Freedom Caucus, originally an anti-establishment group part of the Tea Party movement, he is now facing opposition from both Tea Party groups, and GOP mainstream.
Analysis: Democrats and never-Trump conservatives are thrilled at the one-man rebellion of Rep. Justin Amash. In Hollywood, the lonely truthteller makes history. In Washington, history shows that their friends send them packing.https://t.co/e1hrjCujqz
— POLITICO (@politico) May 25, 2019
GOP-affiliated PAC’s are likely to abandon Amash over his criticism of President Trump, the report states.
Even Freedom Caucus, which has become a pro-Trump group, officially condemned Amash’s stance on impeachment, leaving him without right-of-center allies. Furthermore, he is now facing a primary challenger. Michigan State Representative Jim Lower, who will likely earn the backing of big donors, is set to run against the libertarian-leaning Republican.
Powerful Republican donors, the wealthy DeVos family, have already abandoned Amash, despite supporting him since his first election in 2010. One of Amash’s main contributors, the Freedom Caucus-affiliated House Freedom Fund, will almost certainly pull the plug as well, according to the report, leaving Amash vulnerable to primary challengers and Republican anger.
None of this comes as a surprise, given that President Trump has enjoyed almost unprecedented support from both the party and the electorate. According to Gallup research, Trump’s approval rating among voters who identify as Republican has always been exceptionally high. Research conducted in early May shows that 90 percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s job performance.
