Category: russell fry

GOP Rep. Who Voted To Impeach Trump Gets Clobbered in Primary, Days After Paul Ryan Endorsed Him

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representative Tom Rice, one of only 10 Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump over his alleged role in inciting the January 6 riot at the Capitol, was soundly defeated in the Republican primary for South Carolina’s 7th District.

Rice lost to Russell Fry, the South Carolina State House’s majority whip, who earned Trump’s endorsement. Fry, according to the latest numbers, more than doubled the vote attained by Rice.

Rice called Fry to concede the race Tuesday.

Fry’s victory was so resounding he was able to avoid a runoff by winning 51% of the vote.

RELATED: Paul Ryan Campaigns For GOP Rep. Who ‘Had the Guts’ To Impeach Trump

Tom Rice Vote to Impeach Cost Him

The sad showing for Tom Rice comes roughly 17 months after he shocked observers by becoming only one of 10 Republicans to join Democrats in their vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot.

“He sat there and watched the Capitol get sacked and took pleasure in that. He said: ‘Look what I created! Look how rabid these people are to follow me.’” Rice recalled. “That pushed me over the edge. That’s what a dictator would do.”

The congressman did not shy away from the vote either, repeatedly leaning into it as a sign of his being a stand-up guy.

Unfortunately, now that Rice is soon to be out of a job, he’ll be doing a lot more sitting down.

RELATED: ‘Never Trumpers’ Paul Ryan, John Boehner, And Adam Kinzinger Supporting Liz Cheney’s Reelection Bid

Not the Future of the Republican Party

Ironically, Tom Rice, on the day of the primary, told voters Trump is “not the future of the Republican Party” and predicted his vote to impeach the former President would be “advantageous to me politically.”

“Oh, I think it’s advantageous to me politically. I think I’m just telling the truth,” Rice said of his vote to impeach. “You know, the truth will set you free. And I think that Donald Trump is not the future of the Republican Party.”

“I think he is the past, and we need to move on,” he added.

The former President has said Rice is a “coward who abandoned his constituents by caving to Nancy Pelosi and the Radical Left.”

One of the few people supporting Tom Rice and perhaps inadvertently solidifying his defeat was former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who heralded the lawmaker as a hero for voting to impeach Trump.

“There were a lot of people who wanted to vote like Tom but who just didn’t have the guts to do it,” Ryan claimed at a campaign stop.

It takes absolutely no ‘guts’ as a Republican to have been on the same side of Democrats and the entire national media.

Other impeachers, like Wyoming’s Liz Cheney, is trailing her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, a Wyoming attorney who has the backing of Trump, by a whopping 30 percentage points.

Fellow Never Trump Republican Kinzinger announced months ago that he was leaving Congress in part due to Democrats in Illinois rewarding his fealty by unveiling a new congressional map that significantly impacted his chances of winning in 2022. After all he has done for them!

Representatives Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Fred Upton (MI), and John Katko (NY) have also decided to flee Congress after voting to impeach Trump.

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The post GOP Rep. Who Voted To Impeach Trump Gets Clobbered in Primary, Days After Paul Ryan Endorsed Him appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump Candidates Face Off Against Two GOP Incumbents In Tomorrow’s Primary

Posted on by Becky Noble

The latest test of Trump’s leverage in the Republican Party comes on Tuesday, as he has backed the challengers of two Republican incumbents, one who voted for impeachment, and one who attacked him over the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. 

Trump is backing State Rep. Russell Fry who is running against Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), and former State Rep. Katie Arrington, who is challenging Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). 

RELATED: Sarah Palin Leads Crowded Field In Race For Alaska’s Sole Seat In U.S. House

Trump vs GOP

Tom Rice is one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. His decision to do so was was a curious one, as his district voted for Trump by a 19-point margin in 2020.

Rice defended his impeachment vote, claiming “Defending the Constitution is a bedrock of the Republican platform, defend the Constitution, and that’s what I did. That was the conservative vote.”

In response, at a rally in South Carolina, Trump ripped Rice, saying, “And now Tom Rice looks like a total fool.”

Russell Fry is portraying Rice as a “traitor” to the district.

In Tuesday’s other race, freshman Rep. Nancy Mace predicted she will beat the Trump-backed Arrington by double digits.

Arrington ran previously in the district and defeated former Governor Mark Sanford in the primary but lost in the general election.

Mace drew Trump’s ire for voting to hold former Trump advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena from the Democrats’ January 6 committee.

Perhaps realizing that she made a powerful enemy, Mace would later travel to New York City, seemingly for the sole purpose of standing outside of Trump Tower and pretending she was a big Trump supporter. 

Watch:

What has Tom Rice received for his impeachment vote? An ad from his opponent comparing him to classic villains like the Joker and the Devil.

And while some Republicans who, immediately following the Capitol riot were critical of Trump and later softened their stance, Rice definitely has not.

“He watched it (Jan. 6) happen. He reveled in it. And he took no action to stop it. I think he had a duty to try to stop it, and he failed in that duty. He’s the past. I hope he doesn’t run again. And I think if he does run again, he hurts the Republican Party. We desperately need somebody who’s going to bring people together. And he is not that guy.”

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