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Of the 10 Republican members of the US House of Representatives who voted in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump, two were from Michigan.

US Representative Fred Upton from St. Joseph and US Representative Peter Meijer from Grand Rapids broke away Republicans who voted no on the article of impeachment alleging Trump incited insurrection, inspiring a mob of Trump supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6.

Upton, a House veteran, criticized the president and called his followers' actions threat to our democracy in an interview with Grand Rapids TV station WOOD-TV ahead of Wednesday's (1/13) vote.

"The final straw for me was obviously what happened last week,” Upton said. “But the president’s remarks were, in his words, ‘totally appropriate’ as he called these folks patriots as they were tearing down the Capitol, people were being killed, he saw a gallows that was constructed on the east lawn of the Capitol. And we now know that they wanted to kidnap (Vice President) Mike Pence, (Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi, execute both of them, as well as kidnap members of Congress and do the same there.

Upton went on to echo fellow Republican Liz Cheney's words that the president "lit the flame" to move his supporters toward violence.

Meijer, a freshmen Representative whose service to the House began just a week before the January 6 attack, issued a statement on Twitter, assigning blame to the president for the insurrection.

"President Trump betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week. With a heavy heart, I will vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump."

The Senate trial for President Donald Trump is not set to begin until after President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in on January 20.

 

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