Less than 48 hours after Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) became the first Republican to call for President Trump’s impeachment, a pro-Trump Michigan state representative has stepped forward to challenge him in the 2020 primary election.
Michigan state Rep. Jim Lower announced his intention to run against Amash, Monday morning, calling himself a ” pro-Trump, pro-life, pro-jobs, pro-Second Amendment, pro-family values Republican .”
In a series of tweets on Saturday, Amash claimed that President Trump engaged in “impeachable conduct,” and that few of his colleagues had read the full report. Amash claimed that the report showed “multiple examples” of Trump obstructing justice.
He also slammed Attorney General William Barr, claiming he intentionally misled the public about the Mueller report.
I offer these conclusions only after having read Mueller’s redacted report carefully and completely, having read or watched pertinent statements and testimony, and having discussed this matter with my staff, who thoroughly reviewed materials and provided me with further analysis.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
While impeachment should be undertaken only in extraordinary circumstances, the risk we face in an environment of extreme partisanship is not that Congress will employ it as a remedy too often but rather that Congress will employ it so rarely that it cannot deter misconduct.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
Barr’s misrepresentations are significant but often subtle, frequently taking the form of sleight-of-hand qualifications or logical fallacies, which he hopes people will not notice.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) May 18, 2019
“Congressman Justin Amash’s tweets yesterday calling for President Trump’s impeachment show how out of touch he is with the truth and how out of touch he is with people he represents,” Lower said , according to the Detroit News.
“Amash has not only failed to support President Trump as the president works to make the United States stronger and safer, he has now united with radical liberals like Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) to try and bring down our president. He must be replaced, and I am going to do it.”
Lower hinted on Saturday that an announcement was forthcoming.
This cannot go unchallenged! I support @realDonaldTrump, I support West Michigan values, I support our party's values and I will have a major announcement regarding MI CD3 this week! pic.twitter.com/ooA9xxp6ws
— Jim Lower (@RepJimLower) May 19, 2019
Republicans have been united in condemning Amash in the wake of his Twitter rant against the president and attorney general.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Sunday dismissed Amash as a RINO who is just hungry for attention.
“This is exactly what he wants, he wants to have attention,” McCarthy said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “You’ve got to understand Justin Amash. He’s been in Congress quite some time. I think he’s asked one question in all the committees that he’s been in. He votes more with Nancy Pelosi than he ever votes with me. It’s a question whether he’s even in our Republican conference as a whole.”
Said Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) Monday Morning on Fox: “Justin’s a friend but he’s wrong on this clearly, and the way he did this is all wrong, as well.” He went on to challenge Amash’s claim that few members of Congress have read the Mueller report.
“We’ve all read the report,” Biggs said. “We’ve compared notes. We’ve tried to interpret what we think are strong points or weak points. We’ve all read the report so I was kind of floored by Justin’s conclusion. I disagree with him wholeheartedly on this.”
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel accused Amash of parroting Democrat talking points, and pointed out that his district is strongly supportive of the president.
Voters in Amash’s district strongly support this President, and would rather their Congressman work to support the President's policies that have brought jobs, increased wages and made life better for Americans.
— Ronna McDaniel (@RonnaMcDaniel) May 19, 2019
Even Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) expressed mild disagreement with Amash’s call for Trump’s impeachment.
“My own view is that Justin Amash has reached a different conclusion then I have,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
President Trump on Sunday called Amash a “total lightweight” and a “loser” who opposes him “to get his name out there.”
….he would see that it was nevertheless strong on NO COLLUSION and, ultimately, NO OBSTRUCTION…Anyway, how do you Obstruct when there is no crime and, in fact, the crimes were committed by the other side? Justin is a loser who sadly plays right into our opponents hands!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
Amash was elected to represent Michigan’s Third District in the Tea Party wave election of 2010. He won re-election last fall by 11 percentage points, according to the Detroit News.
Photo credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call