A day after voting to impeach President Donald Trump, U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, acknowledged it was politically risky but said he had to vote his conscience.

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"It may have been an act of political suicide but it's what I felt was necessary for the good of the country, to have accountability in this moment but also to set a path to moving forward," Meijer told the Free Press on Thursday.

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On Wednesday, Meijer was one of only 10 Republicans — and the only freshman — to join Democrats in voting to impeach Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection for urging on supporters who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

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Meijer, an Iraq War veteran and a member of the family that founded the eponymous grocery store chain, was livid over the fact that Trump had continued to falsely suggest to his supporters, including at a rally just before the riot, that the election won by President-elect Joe Biden had been fraudulent and they could somehow force Congress to change, or refuse to accept, the result.

a man wearing a suit and tie: Republican Peter Meijer, the winner in Michigan's Third Congressional District race, listens to a reporter's question during a scrum in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020. © Arpan Lobo/Sentinel Staff Republican Peter Meijer, the winner in Michigan's Third Congressional District race, listens to a reporter's question during a scrum in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020.

Just before his vote, Meijer issued a statement, saying he would vote "with a heavy heart" to impeach Trump because the president had betrayed his oath of office by undermining the democratic process and taken no responsibility for his actions.

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Meijer, along with another Michigan Republican, Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph, voted to impeach. But it wasn't a decision that came easily. As threats against him and other lawmakers increased in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack that led to five deaths, he endured sleepless nights and a notable lack of appetite, "more from dealing with the gravity of deciding whether to impeach," he said, than from any threats.

A day after the attack, Meijer had posted a video on Twitter denouncing those Republicans who had riled the rioters for their own gain. But he still faced a tough decision regarding impeachment.

It wasn't lost on him that his predecessor, U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, had left the Republican Party over his criticism of Trump and in 2019 voted to impeach the president on an accusation he had tried to get the Ukrainian president to investigate Biden. Trump would later be acquitted by the Senate.

More on Meijer's mind, though, was another congressman from the district he now represents: Gerald Ford, who became Richard Nixon's vice president and then succeeded Nixon in office when he resigned because of the threat of impeachment. Ford pardoned Nixon — in a move that may have cost him the presidency in 1976 — but it also served to heal the nation, Meijer said. But Nixon had resigned saying he was doing so in the best interests of the nation; Trump had continued to dispute an election that was over despite the harm to the U.S.

Meijer said he respected the conclusion made by other Republicans — including five of the seven Republican members of Michigan's U.S. House delegation — to vote against impeachment. But he couldn't come to the same conclusion himself, believing Trump, as he prepares to leave office next Wednesday, needs to be held accountable for his role in sparking the disturbance.

In a Republican-leaning district in Republican-leaning west Michigan, it could hurt him politically, without question. On Thursday, he said he has been hearing from constituents on both sides, including many who are angry with him.

"I know there are a number of constituents who are deeply disappointed and that weighs on my heart," Meijer said. "I've tried to reach out to them. ... There's always a tension between doing what may be the most popular thing among those in the district and what may be in the best interest of the nation as a whole."

He added, "I've been sick to my stomach over this vote."

But he said he still thinks it was the correct one, given the president's actions. 

"I hope in time to have them (his constituents) understand why I felt this was the most appropriate decision," he said.

Contact Todd Spangler at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rep. Meijer says vote to impeach Trump may have been 'political suicide'

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