Impeachment vote haunts South Carolina Republican in 2022
Former President Donald Trump is casting a long shadow over South Carolina's Republican primary.
The race for the GOP nomination in South Carolina's 7th Congressional District, which spans the northeast part of the state inland from Myrtle Beach, is only competitive because of the pro-impeachment vote of Rep. Tom Rice in the second Democratic-led effort to evict Trump from the presidency and prevent him from holding public office again. Rice was among 10 House Republicans to vote for the impeachment of Trump over the then-president's actions — or inactions, according to critics — during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that sought to stop Electoral College ballot-counting that made Joe Biden the next president.
Yet while Rice backing Trump's impeachment may hurt him with some Republicans, it may help him with any Democrat willing to cast a ballot for him in the open primary on June 14. That could result in a June 28 runoff contest if no candidate amasses a majority of the vote.
Rice's impeachment vote led to Trump endorsing a Republican competitor in the 7th Congressional District, state Rep. Russell Fry. And now Rice, first elected to the House in 2012, is facing headwinds exacerbated by Trump himself at a recent 7th District rally, according to Coastal Carolina University professor Drew Kurlowski.
"He's trying to say all the right things that allow him to distance himself from the actions of Trump without distancing himself from being a conservative," Kurlowski told the Washington Examiner.
More than a year after Trump's second House impeachment, Rice was pressed on his vote this month during a five-person primary debate, providing a long-winded, prepared response. Rice, whose voting record besides impeachment was mostly supportive of Trump, recalled the Capitol scene on Jan. 6.
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There is more.
Rice still appears to be exaggerating the events of Jan.6 much like the Democrats did who voted for impeachment. While Jan. 6 had some events that were uncalled for it was not a real insurrection.
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