Bergman backs Trump; majority of Michigan Congressional delegation votes to impeach

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

Congressman Jack Bergman, who represents Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, stood with Donald Trump today and voted against impeaching him for inciting the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol a week ago, January 6.

The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump by a vote of 232-197, as 10 Republicans joined the effort. They included two of Bergman’s Republican colleagues from the Michigan Congressional delegation: Representative Fred Upton, who issued a statement saying that he would vote to impeach after Trump “expressed no regrets” for what had happened at the Capitol; and Representative Peter Meijer, who said that Trump had “betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered last week.”

In total, 9 of Michigan’s 14 Congressional representatives voted to impeach Trump today—7 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. He will leave the White House next Wednesday, January 20, as Joe Biden takes over as the 46th president.

“Today’s vote to impeach the President, without even a single hearing, is unprecedented and simply more of the same divisiveness — making no effort to heal our wounds,” said Bergman about his decision to stand with Trump.

Bergman also voted against certifying the electoral college results last Wednesday, which made official Biden’s victory. Last month, Bergman also signed onto a Texas lawsuit that sought to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Biden’s presidential election victory—even though Biden won Michigan by a resounding 154,000 votes. On November 3, Biden also carried Leelanau County by 878 votes and won the national race by more than 7 million votes. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

Meijer, a freshman lawmaker from West Michigan, defended his decision to go against the majority of his party and vote for impeachment today.

“We can’t paper over the assault on the Capitol with empty calls for ‘unity’,” he wrote on Facebook on January 10. “Unless my party faces the truth of what happened and holds those responsible to account, we will never regain the public’s trust and earn the honor of leading the nation forward.”