COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republicans on Saturday issued a formal censure to U.S. Rep. Tom Rice to show disapproval over his vote in support of the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump.
Rice was among 10 GOP representatives who joined Democrats on Jan. 13 in voting to impeach Trump for his role in the violence a week earlier at the U.S. Capitol. A Senate trial is expected in February.
A day after his vote, Rice — who represents South Carolina’s 7th District, an area that voted heavily for Trump — told The Associated Press “it hurts my heart” to have gone against the president, but he decided to back impeachment after seeing what he characterized as Trump’s inaction during the Capitol Hill riot.
State party-level censures aren’t common in South Carolina. The GOP in 2009 issued one to then-Gov. Mark Sanford after he fled the…
