Category: Tom Rice

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

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan campaigned for Representative Tom Rice on Wednesday, suggesting the South Carolina Republican’s vote to impeach Donald Trump was a gutsy call and railing against GOP “celebrities” trying to aid the former President’s “vengeance.”

The comments marked the first serious public rebuke of Trump by the former Speaker of the House, once considered the future of the GOP, in some time.

Rice was one of only 10 Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of impeaching Trump over his alleged role in inciting the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

Ryan praised his actions.

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

RELATED: Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Trump Are Already Facing Primary Challenges

Paul Ryan Rips Trump, GOP

Paul Ryan continued to attack the Republican Party during his campaign speech to aid embattled Representative Tom Rice, calling out lawmakers who dare to support Trump.

Ryan embraced Rice as a “man of conviction” whose vote to impeach was a “vote for the Constitution.”

“This is just such a crystal clear case where you have a hard-working, effective, senior member of Congress who deserves reelection vs. people who are just trying to be celebrities who may be trying to help Trump with his vengeance,” he added.

“That’s not who voters want, voters want people focused on their solutions, not on Trump’s vengeance and that to me is a really clear-cut case here,” said Ryan.

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

Pro-Impeachment Tom Rice is Struggling

It’s unclear if Paul Ryan’s campaign efforts for Tom Rice will yield results, as the incumbent is currently trailing in polls to Russell Fry, the South Carolina Legislature’s majority whip, who earned Trump’s endorsement.

Fry, in an interview with Breitbart News, said the former President’s endorsement had been a boon for his campaign.

“The energy’s incredible, you know. Prior to the Trump endorsement, we were tracking well, we were very firmly in a one versus one kind of race,” Fry said.

“There’s several people in the race, but the endorsement has been, like lights out. I mean, it’s just been incredible. The energy is real.”

An internal poll from Fry’s campaign shows Rice trails the Trump-endorsed candidate by double digits in their primary race.

Ryan meanwhile, has also hitched his wagon to another struggling horse in Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney.

Cheney is also one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, and one who has made it a personal crusade to embellish the events at the Capitol over a year ago.

The Political Insider reported in September that Ryan had been donating money and support to Cheney’s re-election bid in the hopes that he could help in “exciting her own voters.”

Cheney, like Rice according to a new poll, is struggling, which is pretty exciting. She trails her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, a Wyoming attorney who has the backing of Trump, by a whopping 30 percentage points.

Trump has referred to Ryan as a “curse to the Republican Party” after the former Speaker advised the GOP to steer clear of the “populist appeal of one personality.”

Paul Ryan also overdramatized the events of January 6th and Trump’s role, saying he found it “horrifying to see a presidency come to such a dishonorable and disgraceful end.”

“He has no clue as to what needs to be done for our Country, was a weak and ineffective leader, and spends all of his time fighting Republicans as opposed to Democrats who are destroying our Country,” Trump fired back.

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

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Never Trumpers Close Ranks After Pro-Impeachment Republican Gets Blasted By Trump As ‘Total Fool’

Posted on by Becky Noble

As the divide in the Republican Party continues to grow between those who support former President Donald Trump and those who do not, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) can always be counted on by the anti-Trump forces.

On Sunday, Cheney rushed to the rescue of Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC), after the latter was called on the floor by former President Donald Trump at a rally in the Palmetto State.

RELATED: Democrat Strategist Calls Kamala Harris’ Europe Trip ‘Tragic,’ Embarrassing

Rallies That Still Draw Big Crowds

Trump held one of his signature rallies in Florence, South Carolina on Saturday. Despite rain and weather, thousands turned out to greet the former President. It was there that Trump, while talking about local candidates, called Rice “a total fool.”

“Right here in the 7th Congressional District, Tom Rice, a disaster. He’s respected by no one, he’s laughed at in Washington, he was never thought highly of in Washington.”

Rice was one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2020.

Trump’s rally was in part to support his endorsed candidates, who include Rice’s challenger, State Rep. Russell Fry. 

Following the rally, Rice released a statement that read,

“Trump is here because, like no one else I’ve ever met, he is consumed by spite. I took one vote he didn’t like and now he’s chosen to support a yes man candidate who has and will bow to anything he says, no matter what.”

RELATED: ‘The Daily Show’s’ Trevor Noah Eviscerates Biden: World Leaders Would Never Have Dared To Ignore Trump’s Phone Calls 

One Of Several Censured

Rice and Cheney have another thing thing in common, besides their disdain for the leader of their party. They have both been censured in their home states for their votes to impeach.

Rice was censured back in February by the South Carolina Republican Party for his impeachment vote. Cheney was not only censured by the Wyoming Republican Party, but in November, the party voted to no longer recognize her as a Republican.

A further similarity is that Trump has endorsed Republican primary opponents against both. 

Trump endorsed Rice’s opponent Fry in February. 

He made a rather curious endorsement against Cheney’s opponent, Harriet Hageman, last year. 

Hageman was once a very close ally of Cheney, even serving as one of her fundraisers. Hageman had referred to Trump as “racist and xenophobic” and was part of the Establishment GOP’s effort to deny Trump the Republican nomination in 2016.

RELATED: Former Trump Staff Member Stephanie Grisham Punches Back At ‘The View’: ‘You Keep Attacking Me’ 

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