Grand Rapids, Michigan (CNN)It was just three days into Republican Rep. Peter Meijer's term when a pro-Trump mob ransacked the Capitol. A week later, the freshman voted to impeach Trump.
A week before his primary, Republicans in Michigan and Washington say that Meijer's vote has made him the clear underdog in his primary race against John Gibbs, a former Housing and Urban Development department official backed by Trump, the latest sign that loyalty to the former President remains paramount in GOP intraparty battles.
"I think it was the biggest career-ending move in history, possibly, for him to do that," Gibbs told CNN, saying it "catastrophically" hurt the congressman's chances of reelection.
Meijer, 34, says he would do it again.
As he barnstorms his district, Meijer said he confronts questions from voters about why he cast his vote -- even as he tries to explain that his first two years in office were far more than just being one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. But when he's asked why he voted to charge Trump with inciting the insurrection, he says he's perfectly blunt.
"For three hours after the Capitol was attacked, when myself, the House chamber and several hundred of my colleagues were having to flee from a mob, when the vice president, his wife, his daughter were running from crowds screaming 'hang Mike Pence,' when the next two individuals in the presidential line of succession were unsecured and had to be taken to secure locations, for three hours...
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