Michigan House Rep. Paul Mitchell just announced that he’s leaving the Republican Party due to their support for President Trump. Mitchell says he fears “long-term harm to our democracy” after the GOP endorsed efforts to overturn the presidential election, including “Stop the Steal” rallies.
GOP Congressman turns his back on Trump
Paul Mitchell announced he was leaving the GOP on the same day the Electoral College voted to confirm Joe Biden as the president-elect, despite the Trump legal team’s effort to stop the outcome.
Mitchell sent a letter to Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, explaining that he was pro-Trump for the president’s entire term but he can’t go along with the recent lawsuits attempting to reverse the election outcome.
“As you well know, my voting record in Congress over the past two terms has been in line with President Trump and the administration’s policies more than 95 percent of the time,” the congressman wrote. “Further, I voted for President Trump in the 2020 General Election despite some reservations about four more years under his leadership.”
Mitchell agrees with some of the GOP talking points in regards to the November 3rd election and even stated that “there have been some disconcerting aspects” to the election process and “any candidate, including the president, is entitled to request recounts and pursue legal challenges they believe are appropriate if they possess evidence of wrongdoing.”
Today I am disaffiliating from the Republican Party.
See my letter below: pic.twitter.com/76IxC4FMvJ
— Rep. Paul Mitchell (@RepPaulMitchell) December 14, 2020
Electoral College votes for Biden
Paul Mitchell wrote in his statement,
“It is unacceptable for political candidates to treat our election system as though we are a third-world nation and incite distrust of something so basic as the sanctity of our vote. Further, it is unacceptable for the president to attack the Supreme Court of the United States because its judges, both liberal and conservative, did not rule with his side or that “the Court failed him.” It was our Founding Fathers’ objective to insulate the Supreme Court from such blatant political motivations.”
Mitchell went on to say, “If Republican leaders collectively sit back and tolerate unfounded conspiracy theories and “stop the steal” rallies without speaking out for our electoral process, which the Department of Homeland Security said was ‘the most secure in American history,’ our nation will be damaged. I have spoken out clearly and forcefully in opposition to these messages. However, with the leadership of the Republican Party and our Republican Conference in the House actively participating in at least some of those efforts, I fear long-term harm to our democracy.”
Mitchell, who is retiring from Congress in a few weeks anyway, wants to wipe his affiliation with the GOP.
He requested the the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives to change his party affiliation from Republican to Independent for the last few weeks of his term in office. Mitchell said, “While admittedly symbolic, we all know that symbols matter.”
