Van Drew met with Trump last week and the latter tweeted his praise for the congressman. A day after the impeachment vote, Trump announced that the New Jersey Democrat - who broke with his party to vote against impeaching the US president - would become a Republican.
"Jeff will be joining the Republican Party", Trump triumphantly announced in the Oval Office during an appearance with Van Drew on Thursday. Trump and Van Drew shook hands, with Trump calling him a "tremendous asset to the party", and telling him "I'm with you all the way".
"I'm with you", Van Drew responded.
Van Drew tells @realDonaldTrump that he has his undying support. He says the Republican Party is a better fit for him. Trump tells him he has his endorsement. pic.twitter.com/VPGWlfTShm
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) December 19, 2019
Van Drew and fellow Democratic colleague Collin Peterson joined the unanimous Republican opposition on Wednesday on both impeachment articles against Trump. The abuse of power article was passed on a 230-197 vote and the obstruction of Congress article was passed by 229-198. Another Democrat, Jared Golden, voted only against the obstruction charge but upheld that Trump had abused the power of his office.
Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy earlier this week held the door open to Van Drew becoming a prominent GOP member. "I've told him many times he's more than welcome to join the Republican Party," McCarthy said, cited by AP. Asked if he offered Van Drew assistance in getting a committee assignment or in hiring staff, McCarthy stressed: "I'll help him with whatever he needs".
"He’s going from the majority to the minority. That doesn't happen", McCarthy opined.
Van Drew's political record, before switching sides, is a showpiece of anti-Trump lawmaking.
Van Drew voted earlier to override Trump's veto of a bill that overturned his emergency declaration for border wall funding and voted to block Trump from leaving the landmark Paris Climate Change Accord.
He also voted to block the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and disapproved of the Trump administration's plan to lift sanctions on Russian entities. In addition, Van Drew has condemned comments Trump made about four congresswomen that the president earlier dubbed "The Squad", calling the remarks racist, and pushed back on Trump's attempts to direct courts to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).
Rumors of a switch by one House politician in the midst of the impeachment proceedings against Trump prompted five of his staffers to resign and caused members of Van Drew's caucus to accuse him of attempting to bolster his reelection bid, due, in part, to flagging support from his voter base.
Five of Jeff Van Drew’s staff members announced their resignation Sunday after the congressman privately indicated he would switch parties, saying they are “deeply saddened and disappointed” by the decision pic.twitter.com/TnlbUakEp1
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 16, 2019
The list of American politicians who directly or indirectly switched sides and political views during campaigns or their terms comprises dozens of names.
One of the most recent and vivid examples is now-deceased Senator for Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, becoming a GOP member until 2009, when he switched back to Dems.
