US Representative Jeff Van Drew on Sunday defended his switch from Democrat to Republican, saying he had considered the move for some time, but the impeachment of President Donald Trump was his “tipping point,” Fox News reported.
"There has always been something in my career that let me know it’s time for a change,” Van Drew said. "The final sign for me was, oddly enough, when one of the county chairmen said ‘you have to vote for impeachment. And that ‘If you don’t, you won’t be able to run in my county.’”
“It’s not his county, it’s everybody’s county,” the Representative noted.
Van Drew lambasted fellow Democrats for initiating the impeachment inquiry based on what he considers “weak” and “thin” arguments.
“This impeachment is a weak, thin impeachment,” he said, according to Fox. “It’s been a long, dark shadow on our country.”
Van Drew added that the impeachment is only widening divisions in an already deeply polarized nation.
“We are supposed to be there for the American people and not for political bickering,” he commented. “It harms our country and it fractures us more.”
Last week, Van Drew met with Trump following his announcement to become a Republican.
"Jeff will be joining the Republican Party", Trump announced during an appearance with Van Drew on Thursday. The two politicians shook hands, and Trump called Van Drew a "tremendous asset to the party", telling him, "I'm with you all the way".
During his tenure as a Democrat, however, Van Drew was far from being the blind Trump supporter. Out of 659 votes in the current Congress, only slightly less than 50 percent of Van Drew’s votes were in accordance with Republicans, according to Fox.
Following his announcement, several members of Van Drew’s caucus accused him of switching parties as a means of saving his bid for re-election, the Fox report says, citing an internal Dem party poll, which revealed that 58 percent of primary voters in Van Drew's 2nd Congressional District wanted to nominate another candidate. Five of his aides reportedly resigned from Van Drew’s office following the announcement.