Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., now says he regrets voting against certifying President Joe Biden’s election on Jan. 6, Politico is reporting.
But the lawmaker, who was one of ten House Republicans who voted in favor of impeaching then-President Donald Trump during the second trial, told the news outlet he still is convinced there were "real issues with the election."
He told Politico: "In retrospect I should have voted to certify. Because President Trump was responsible for the attack on the Capitol.
"In the wee hours of that disgraceful night, while waiting for the Capitol of our great country to be secured, I knew I should vote to certify. But because I had made a public announcement of my intent to object, I did not want to go back on my word. So yeah, I regret my vote to object."
Rice claimed that Trump watched "with pride" from the White House and "did nothing to stop the riot at the Capitol" while then-Vice President Mike Pence was forced to flee from the Capitol for his life.
"There was a coward in that equation," Rice said. "But it wasn’t Mike Pence."
The Washington Examiner noted Rice had announced he would object to the election results in a Facebook post earlier in the day on Jan. 6.
"The oft repeated statement that there is no proof of election irregularities is a lie. Bureaucrats and non legislative officials took it upon themselves to alter the election process in violation of their own state law, in the weeks before the election," he wrote. "This is a fact that is not in question, and that fact alone is sufficient to raise these objections."
As result of his impeachment vote, the South Carolina GOP formally censured him to show its disapproval, a step also taken by other party committees across the country to punish many of the 10 House Republicans who supported Trump’s impeachment, The Associated Press noted.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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