The symbolic reprimand comes amid growing Republican opposition to the ex-president trial in the Senate due to begin next month.
A South Carolina Republican lawmaker was censored by the party’s state branch after voting in favor of the charges against former US President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Congressman Tom Rice was one of ten Republicans in the US House of Representatives who voted in favor of Trump on January 13 for calling for a riot this month over the deadly riot in the US Capitol.
On Saturday, the South Carolina Republican Party (SCGOP) said it had officially censored Rice for his vote.
“We made our disappointment clear the night of the impeachment,” said Drew McKissick, chairman of the SCGOP, in a statement about the symbolic rebuke posted on social media.
“Trying to indict a president with a week left in office is never legitimate and nothing more than a political kick on the way to the door.”
Today the SCGOP Executive Committee decided to officially reprimand Congressman Rice for his impeachment vote. The full statement from the SCGOP chair @ DrewMcKissick can be found below: pic.twitter.com/lNzDW80ljl
– South Carolina Republican Party (@SCGOP) January 30, 2021
Rice was a staunch supporter of Trump during the former President’s tenure in the White House but said on Jan. 13 that he voted for impeachment because the Capitol uprising was “inexcusable”.
“I supported this president through thick and thin for four years. I fought for him and voted for him twice. But this utter failure is inexcusable, ”Rice said in a statement at the time.
Trump’s impeachment over the Capitol uprising – his second as president – has split the Republican Party.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he thought it “appropriate” to continue impeachment proceedings in the US Senate, while other Republicans questioned the constitutionality of trials that take place when Trump is no longer in office.
Members of the party have also argued that impeachment would harm an already deeply divided country and urged Democrats to drop their initiative.
Despite this opposition, the Democrat-controlled House sent the impeachment article to the Senate last week, and the Senate trial of Trump is expected to begin in February.
To be convicted, the Senate needs a two-thirds majority of support. That means more than a dozen Republicans will have to vote with Democrats to be impeached.
Reis isn’t the only Republican who voted for impeachment to face backlash.
Liz Cheney, currently number three Republican in the House of Representatives, has been censored by the Republican Party in at least three of the 23 counties in her home state of Wyoming.
She is also facing growing demands to lose her role as chair of the party conference.
House representative Fred Upton has also been censored by the Republican Party in Allegan County, one of six counties in the Michigan borough of Upton, for voting against Trump.
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