Centre County Republican Committee moves to censure Sen. Toomey for impeachment vote
Republican U.S. Senator Pat Toomey is facing backlash for his vote to convict Donald Trump in the former president’s second impeachment trial, including a censure from the Centre County Republican Committee.
Toomey was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump on one impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection. Though a majority voted in favor — 57 to 43 — a two-thirds vote was needed to convict. Since the weekend acquittal and even before the Senate vote, GOP committees across Pennsylvania have moved to censure the outgoing senator.
Though Toomey supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, he voted to convict Trump, saying he “summoned thousands to Washington” and “inflamed their passions by repeating disproven allegations about widespread voter fraud.”
“He urged the mob to march on the Capitol for the explicit purpose of preventing Congress and the vice president from formally certifying the results of the presidential election,” Toomey said in a statement. “All of this to hold on to power despite having legitimately lost.”
Thousands of Trump supporters — including those from the CCRC — gathered in Washington for the Jan. 6 “Save America” rally, where Trump and speakers encouraged attendees to “stop the steal” and march down Pennsylvania Avenue as Congress met to certify the Electoral College results. The president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, demanded “trial by combat.” Following the rally, a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol Building as legislators were counting the final electoral results, which certified Trump’s loss. Five people died in the riot, including a police officer. Two officers killed themselves in the days after the riot.
CCRC Chairwoman Kris Eng has condemned all acts of hate and violence following the deadly attack and said none of the members who traveled to Washington for the rally participated in the riot. But the local GOP party has declined to acknowledge that claims about voter fraud and a “stolen” election are unsubstantiated.
Citing Toomey’s remarks that Trump committed impeachable offenses and his vote in the trial, the CCRC posted a resolution censuring the Republican senator to its Facebook page on Sunday. The statement accuses Toomey of “actively working against conservative values, principles and elected Republicans in public office.”
“Thank you, Senate Republicans for voting for the truth,” the CCRC wrote in a Saturday Facebook post. “However, Senator Toomey, you have dismayed millions of us who knew the truth. I asked that you listen to honest people who witnessed the truth on that day. I am sorry you chose to listen the spin of the left and of the mainstream media. I am very disappointed that you chose to ignore all the people who asked you to do the right thing.”
Toomey has not commented on the backlash but has maintained his stance that Trump’s actions played a role in the Capitol mob.
“A lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders’ greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorities in the U.S. Constitution,” Toomey said in a statement. “I was one of the 74 million Americans who voted for President Trump, in part because of the many accomplishments of his administration. Unfortunately, his behavior after the election betrayed the confidence millions of us placed in him.”
GOP committees in Cambria, York and Lawrence counties have already or are planning to take steps to censure Toomey, according to the Associated Press, and the state Republican Party may be next.
“This post-presidency impeachment proceeding was an unconstitutional theft of time and energy that did absolutely nothing to unify or help the American people,” the Republican Party of Pennsylvania said in a statement Saturday. “I share the disappointment of many of our grassroots leaders and volunteers over Senator Toomey’s vote today. The vote to acquit was the constitutionally correct outcome.”
