The incentive structure goes that if they can elevate a weak opponent here and there, then they can flip a seat here, hold a statewide position there, and salvage parts of power. I am self-motivated and an editor at Ghanafuo.com. SIMON: What about the argument that Democratic groups have used saying that the Republican Party, at large, is promoting candidates who would overturn lawful election results and it's just too late to play by those old, circumspect rules? Rep. Peter Meijer lost his Republican primary to represent Michigan's 3rd district this week. On a recent Wednesday afternoon in mid-December, Peter Meijer shuffled around the Speakers Lobby in the U.S. Capitol, finding a spot near the crackling fireplace as a cold rain from a winter storm encased Washington. Meijer: I think Tudor did the best with what she had. Peter Meijer exchanged wedding vows with his wife in Rio de Janeiro in September 2017. You have God and you have Satan. Wren: No idea? Haley Meijer is the sister of Republican US House Representative Peter Meijer in Michigan. She was in a very unenviable position. People are afraid for their safety. His mother Claire is a consultant at Flight Center Travel Group. Democrats have used that tactic in several states, hoping the more extreme Republican candidates will be easier opponents in the fall. He lost to John Gibbs, a former Trump official who has pushed false claims about the 2020 election. Cecelia Chintoh is the name I respond to. I dont have a visceral hatred of Washington that some do. Via Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rep._Peter_Meijer_official_photo_117th_Congress.jpg, Nov 19 2016 - Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, Grand Rapids, Kent County, Michigan, United States, Current Members of the United States House of Representatives. Whats the biggest splurge youve made? Meanwhile, after Peter voted for Trumps impeachment, he is taking several measures to keep his family and wife safe as he is receiving threats for being a betrayer. As of late January, he says, I thought there was the opportunity to have a harsh confrontation with reality. Finally, he consulted a list hed compiled of like-minded members with whom he wanted to compare notes. It's bad for the notion of governing. He hoped to prioritize economic competitiveness with China. Whats worse: Meijer sees Trump inspiring copycats, some of them far smarter and more sophisticated, enemies of the American ideal who might succeed where Trump failed. The midterm elections were a bloodbath in the state. At the end of the day, theres been such an echo chamber on the right. Whatever his final decision, Meijer didnt want to blindside the people back in his district. Meijer remembers one longtime memberwho confessed that he did not believe the election had been stolen but said he would vote against certification anywaytelling him: This is the last thing Donald Trump will ever ask you to do., Meijer knew that some Republicans had sincere concerns about election integrity; he himself feared that Democratic officials had taken advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and exceeded their authority to enroll absentee voters. 1. I texted Meijer about the news. Peter was born on January 10, 1988, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The 34-year-old American politician is known to have just a sibling. Meijer: If I have a regret, its that we probably could have been there for a week and nobody would have known. Meijer: I think we substantively advanced the issue in the National Security Performance and Accountability Act of 2021 that we introduced in the spring of last year. He wanted more oversight and accountability for troop deployments. And then there are people who have become acutely aware of the problem, but dont know how to fight it.. When he walked out a few minutes later, he saw a Capitol Police officer sprinting down the corridor, yelling into his radio: Hallway clear!. But in an . The students listened to Meijer warily. How do you think your party has changed from the kind of Republican Gerald Ford was? Growing up, hed heard the legend of how a family friend, President Gerald Ford, had pardoned Richard Nixon in an act of mercy after Nixon had resigned to avoid the humiliation of being impeached and removed. Meijer knows the strain Trumps candidacy might place on a system that nearly buckled during the last election cycle. He might lose his next election, he thought, but at least his group of 10 could offer hope for some who wanted to [see] the Republican Party get past the darkness and the violence and that sense of foreboding and doom.. Some of the House hard-liners who sought to block certificationMo Brooks, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetzshared discredited YouTube testimonies and Fox News clips to emphasize how the issue was playing with the conservative base. But I think broadly, populist sentiment and a belief that our institutions are failing, our institutions are corrupt, our institutions are irredeemable is becoming a very common belief on both sides of the aisle, and there is good reason to believe it. But they dont think his side can win. Wren: As a veteran who served in the U.S. Army Reserves in Iraq, and as an NGO operative in Afghanistan, one of your key goals was to reform the War Powers Act. We have a rule of law, courts, and peaceful means of resolving disputes., No Sir. Peter had 5 siblings: Gerhard Meijer, Maria Margareta Karth (fdd Kart) (born Meijer) and 3 other siblings. 2023 Ghanafuo.com & DM Network. As Meijer helped a colleague with her hood, the mob was banging on the doors. Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act of 2021. The powerlessness in his voice when he says this is unnerving. Dismayed, a group of freshman Republicans asked for a meeting with Kevin McCarthy shortly after their swearing-in. The same is true, he argued, about the politics of political violence: It is a vital concern that you cant run a winning campaign on. I was like, Oh, do you want me to act the same way [Trump] did? But I look at my colleague from Oregon, Democrat Kurt Schrader. But Peter Meijera junior Republican representative from Michigan and an heir to the multibillion-dollar Midwestern supermarket chain that bears his family namewas one of them. In the middle of September, Anthony Gonzalez announced that he was retiring from Congress. But what I recognized with Peter, during our conversations, was that he never talked about the political implications. The only reason why they were aware is because I thought the right thing to do was to just kind of announce ourselves, dont ask for any support to take up any resources, contrary to a lot of the White House trying to tar and feather us out of their own sense of embarrassment. Its already rumored in Michigan Republican circles that Meijer will run for U.S. Senate in 2024. Rep. Peter Meijer. Peters father and mother Deborah Meijer have two other children. Although Gonzalez was the first of the 10 House Republican impeachment supporters to fall by the wayside, he wouldnt be the last. His mum surprised his little sibling with a Pooh Bear tea party ( Source : instagram ) Alexander Molony parents Claire-Louise and British father raised him in London. But I do think some people have let it go.. Now, he's one of the most pragmatic members of the House, got primaried from the left and a seat that was considered safe Democratic under him because he reached across the aisle. Peter Meijer siblings: Meet his sister Haley Meijer, Aidan Wallace family, girlfriend, children, parents, siblings. Meijer: Oh, yeah. Nobodys getting in here. After the impeachment vote, Meijer felt he was positioned to advocate for what he believed would be an imminent, sweeping overhaul of the party. His side is letting go while the other side is digging in. National polls showed that tens of millions of Republican voters still believed the election had been stolen. He graduated from Columbia University in 2006. The White House, the Pentagon and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said your presence there diverted from the withdrawal mission. So I think both parties are doing what they can to narrow the size of their tent, in some cases, to their political detriment in the short term. 2. A woman raised her hand, after Meijers luncheon talk at a Grand Rapids country club, and asked him about the insurrection on January 6. 5. Peter has created his Twitter account as @VoteMeijer in June 2019 ad to date he has 11.2K Followers. Peter even thanked his lovely wife for her support and credited her and her support for his win in August 2020. I mean, there's no incentive with that type of a politics to do anything but hug the most extreme elements of your party on either side of the aisle. Accuracy and availability may vary. Meijer watched, from a hotel lounge, as the presidents lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell held a deranged press conference at the headquarters of the Republican National Committee. Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump after the Capitol riot, has narrowly lost his Republican primary to Trump-backed conservative challenger John Gibbs . For Meijer, the stillness was unsettling. Hillary Clinton was probably the worst Democratic nominee of my lifetime. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. He's already drawn a primary challenge for 2022 from Tom Norton, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan and strong supporter of Trump. A lot of these people were just shrugging. Representative Peter Meijer (R., Mich.) counts himself among that last, unfortunate, group after being defeated by his Trump-endorsed challenger, John Gibbs, last week. Wren: You said your departure from Washington and Congress is bittersweet. I take that to mean there is part of you that is happy to be leaving here. Mr. Meijer and his spouse make a perfect pair and Peter himself admits it often. Meijer: Being part of the team that passed the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act of 2021. He announced that smoke hoods were under the chairs and told members to put them on. Now he's in line to be picked up on the Republican side, right? The inability to affirmatively and consistently reject anti-Semitism and white supremacy?. First and foremost, Peter Meijer is a married man. He had a broad constituency. 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