New Jersey Democrat Jeff Van Drew, who knows Donald Trump, said voters should decide next year whether to remove the president, not lawmakers.
VINELAND, N.J. – Amid glossy photos of prominent politicians adorning Democratic Congressman Jefferson Van Drew's Capitol Hill office is a framed picture of him with Donald Trump.
House Democrats overwhelmingly backed an impeachment inquiry of Trump in October. Van Drew was one of only two Democrats who broke ranks with House leaders and opposed an impeachment inquiry over accusations that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump denies the allegations and has called the inquiry a"hoax."
"My job isn’t really to like or dislike him," he said during an interview with USA TODAY in his Capitol Office."My job is to exact as much good will and help for my district and for this nation and for this world that I possibly can while he’s president.” No bipartisan support for impeachmentDemocratic leaders were hopeful at least a few Republicans would back impeachment following nearly two weeks of public hearings laying out Trump's efforts to dig up dirt on Biden and play up a widely discredited theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election on behalf of Hillary Clinton. But Van Drew's skepticism indicates that even getting full Democratic support in the House for articles of impeachment will be difficult.
The president has ties to the district. The Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel, the Trump Marina Hotel Casino and the Trump Taj Mahal were all prominent features of Atlantic City before they folded in recent years. A"workout fiend," he never takes the elevator to his ninth-floor apartment in Washington. He's known as a high-energy politician who frequently drops in on events around the district and has an oft-stated desire to reach compromise on issues such as infrastructure, prescription drugs and immigration.While Democrats re-took the House in 2018 largely riding a blue wave of anti-Trump sentiment, Van Drew won his district on a promise to bridge the partisan divide in Washington.
"I think what they’ve done by creating this impeachment is create an image in the world that says: ‘hey it’s not a democracy'," said Katz, 78, a registered independent who voted for Barack Obama in 2012, Trump in 2016 and Van Drew in 2018."How do other nations in the world perceive us now? Divided. Weak. Unable to get together and stand together.”
Among Democrats, 90% favored impeachment while 87% of Republicans were opposed. Independents were split, 46% to 47%. Asked if he would vote for hard-line progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., if she were the Democratic presidential nominee against Trump, Van Drew paused. His stance has already drawn interest for a potential primary challenge from Democrats already angry at his refusal to support Pelosi for speaker in January.
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