Ohio GOP calls on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for voting to impeach Trump



The leadership of the Ohio Republican Party has censured Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) and is calling for him to resign from Congress for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump.

On Friday, the party's central committee adopted two resolutions — the first censuring Gonzalez and nine other Republican representatives for "their votes to support the unconstitutional, politically motivated impeachment proceeding against President Donald J. Trump." The second resolution, which narrowly passed, called on Gonzalez to resign, WCMH-TV reported.

Gonzalez, a former NFL wide receiver, is currently serving his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Ohio's 16th Congressional District. He was one of 10 Republican House members to vote in favor of impeaching Trump after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He is now facing a primary challenge from Max Tiller, a former Trump aide who is running with an endorsement from the former president.

The resolution censuring Gonzalez called the impeachment — which was tried in the U.S. Senate after Trump had left office — "meritless, unprecedented, unconstitutional and purposeless."

At the time, Gonzalez explained his vote, saying, "The President of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution.

"During the attack itself, the President abandoned his post while many members asked for help, thus further endangering all present. These are fundamental threats not just to people's lives but to the very foundation of our Republic," he said.

"When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6th including the President's lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment."

See my full statement on impeachment below. https://t.co/pBBYRI2RUP

— Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (@RepAGonzalez) 1610571632.0

Two of the prominent Republican candidates running to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) in the U.S. Senate came out in support of the Ohio GOP's decision.

Jane Timken, who served as the state party chairwoman before stepping down to run for Senate, said she was in full agreement with Gonzalez's censure.

"As President Trump's hand-picked Party Chair who traveled 150,000 miles across Ohio supporting his agenda, I fully agree with the censure of Anthony Gonzalez," she tweeted. "The impeachment was a sham that betrayed the Constitution and went against Ohioans' interests."

Former state treasurer Josh Mandel, who is running against Timken in the GOP Senate primary, criticized her for not censuring Gonzalez sooner.

"Tomorrow the Ohio Republican Party will finally vote to censure Anthony Gonzalez for his vote on the sham impeachment of President Trump," said Mandel. "Question: Why did Jane Timken refuse to censure Gonzalez when she was Chairman? She clearly had time to do so. So what's the real reason?"

Gonzalez is not the only pro-impeachment Republican to face backlash from his state's party. In February, the Wyoming Republican Party officially censured Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) for her vote to impeach Trump. Now it appears that Cheney will be ousted from Republican leadership in the House, demonstrating that the political future of Trump-critical Republicans looks bleak.

Lindsey Graham on Trump: He could make GOP 'stronger' or 'could destroy it'

Lindsey Graham on Trump: He could make GOP 'stronger' or 'could destroy it'



Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), once one of former President Donald Trump's harshest critics, says that the best way forward for the Republican Party is to continue to stand with Trump and his policies.

In an interview with reporter Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," Graham said that Trump has the capability to make the GOP "bigger" and "stronger" or he "could destroy it."

"He could make the Republican Party something that nobody else I know can make it. He can make it bigger. He can make it stronger. He can make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it," Graham said.

Graham said he thinks that the "movement" started by Trump is "good for the country," noting that former Republican presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney were unable to galvanize the American people in the way Trump accomplished to win the White House in 2016.

"Mitt Romney didn't do it. John McCain didn't do it. There's something about Trump. There's a dark side, and there's some magic there. And what I'm trying to do is just harness the magic," Graham told Swan.

He went on to describe the former president as "sort of a cross between Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum."

Graham explained that he's trying to keep in touch with Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and after he voted, against Trump's wishes, to certify the Electoral College results declaring President Joe Biden the legitimate winner of the 2020 election. "Enough is enough," Graham said in an impassioned speech decrying the effort to overturn the election as "the most offensive concept in the world."

But now it's time to move on. "Donald Trump was my friend before the riot. And I'm trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. I still consider him a friend. What happened was a dark day in American history, and we're going to move forward," he told Swan.

That statement is a far cry from where Lindsey Graham was in 2015, when he himself was running for president against Trump in the Republican primary. During that election, Graham called Trump a "kook," "crazy," and said he was "unfit for office."

"He's a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot," he said on CNN. "He doesn't represent my party."

After Trump won the White House, Graham's tone changed drastically. He once explained to the New York Times magazine that his embrace of Trump was "to try to be relevant" and work with the president to achieve "really good outcomes for the country." Taking Trump's side helped Graham win re-election in South Carolina in 2020, but even now that Graham isn't up for re-election for another six years, he still wants the Republican Party to follow Trump's lead.

"I want us to continue the policies that I think will make America strong," Graham said. "I believe the best way for the Republican Party to do that is with Trump, not without Trump."