Democrat congressman who has a photo of Donald Trump on his office wall admits the president is ‘unsavory’ but should NOT be impeached, and says the ‘small elite group’ trying to remove him are ‘un-American’
- Congressman Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey doesn’t support impeachment and says only a ‘small elite group’ of lawmakers want to remove Trump
- Removing Trump with the presidential election less than a year away to Van Drew is not only unfathomable, but ‘un-American’ he says
- Van Drew was one of only two Democrats who didn’t vote for impeachment when proposed by House leaders
A Democratic from New Jersey who keeps a framed picture of Donald Trump in his office amid other prominent politicians, including Bill Clinton, says the president may be ‘unsavory’, but he’s not impeachable.
The 2008 image, from when Congressman Jefferson Van Drew was a state senator, was taken when the future president was on a visit to Atlantic City to christen the Chairman Trump Tower at the now defunct Trump Taj Mahal casino.
Van Drew, while he says the president’s actions in his summer-time phone call to Ukraine’s president in an alleged quid pro quo were ‘unsavory’, he’s unlike other Democrats in believing the president should be impeached.
Democratic Congressman Jefferson Van Drew, who keeps a framed picture of Donald Trump in his Capitol Hill office, doesn’t agree with moving foward with impeachment of the president
Trump’s photo in Van Drew’s office is among other prominent politicians, including former President Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat
Van Drew opposed the impeachment inquiry looking into accusations that Trump (pictured) pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter over possible corruption.
The 66-year-old points out to USAToday that no president has ever been removed from office, and to allow a ‘small elite group’ of lawmakers to move forward with impeachment with the presidential election less than a year away to him was not only unfathomable, but un-American.
‘To some folks, that’s reminiscent of what was done to kings and queens many years ago,’ says Van Drew, USAToday reports.
‘Everything our country doesn’t stand for’, he adds.
Others within the party have disagreed, as the impeachment process has been unfolding in the house since October.
Van Drew was one of only two Democrats who didn’t vote for impeachment when proposed by House leaders.
He opposed the inquiry looking into accusations that Trump pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter over possible corruption.
Trump has denied there ever was any quid pro quo because US aid to Ukraine had been held up prior to his request to the ally’s president. He calls the inquiry a ‘hoax’.
Months even before the impeachment inquiry began, Van Drew, a former dentist from Cape May, made it a point to shake the president’s hand as he entered the House chamber in February
Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson, a 15-term veteran who chairs the Agriculture Committee, was the other dissenter.
Months even before the impeachment inquiry began, Van Drew, a former dentist from Cape May, made it a point to shake the president’s hand as he entered the House chamber in February.
Other Democratic lawmakers tried to avoid Trump.
Van Drew says he’s not fond of Trump’s ‘rudeness’, but that he agrees with some of his positions and won’t shun the president publicly, reports USAToday.
‘My job isn’t really to like or dislike him’, he told the news outlet.
‘My job is to exact as much goodwill and help for my district and for this nation and for this world that I possibly can while he’s president’.