Rep. Paul Mitchell has decided to split from the Republican Party. The Republican of Michigan confirmed his decision on Monday, adding that he will become an independent, citing President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the election results.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Mitchell opened up about his disappointment and disgust with Trump's attempts to reverse the recently concluded presidential election results. This led Mitchell to urge the Clerk of the House to change the affiliation of his party to "independent."
Mitchell informed GOP leaders in a letter about his decision to withdraw his involvement and association with the Republican Party at the national and state levels. During an appearance on CNN's The Lead, he noted that the Republican Party needs to first stand up Constitution, democracy first rather than political considerations.
Before declaring that he has had enough, Mitchell the party needs to stop focusing on protecting a candidate for the sake of raw political power. Slated to retire at the end of this Congress session, Mitchell warned that the participation of the House GOP leadership in Trump's conspiracy theories and efforts to overturn the election results could cause long-term harm to America's democracy.
The Lead tweeted a 3 minute 42 seconds clip of Mitchell's interview earlier today, noting that he feels the Republican party is all about power first, which he thinks is demoralizing and disgusting. In his letter, Mitchell said he didn't appreciate political candidates treating the nation's election system as though they are a third-world nation and cause distrust of reliability of vote.
Mitchell also accused Republican leaders of tolerating baseless conspiracy theories and rallies that were based on the "stop the steal" precept without speaking out for the nation's electoral process. The last straw for him seemed to be the Republican Party leadership and the Republican Conference in the House participating actively in some of the aforesaid efforts.
The 64-year-old said he is leaving the party due to its refusal to accept the result of the 2020 election. Noting that any candidate can request a recount or go through a legal process if the votes aren't reasonable, Mitchell pointed out that the party has already gone through the process. He confirmed that he is disaffiliating from the Republican Party via a tweet on Tuesday.
Mitchell also said that he voted for Trump in both elections, and agreed with the administration's policy 95, 96 percent of the time during the last two terms. He urged the party to stand up for the nation's Constitution and democracy rather than backing political considerations.