NJ-02: Van Drew said he wouldn't vote for Trump weeks before switching parties: report

New Jersey Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R), who made a high-profile defection from the Democratic Party to the GOP over impeachment last month, signaled weeks before the move that he would not vote for President Trump in November.

In a voicemail obtained and released by The Philadelphia Inquirer Friday, Van Drew assured one of his constituents three weeks before he switched parties that he would not support the president.

Van Drew later affirmed his “undying support” for Trump after switching parties.

"I haven’t voted for him, I didn’t support him, I will not vote for him,” Van Drew said of Trump in the Nov. 30 voicemail.

Van Drew also addressed his opposition to the House’s impeachment investigation into Trump, arguing that the process would “tear the country further apart.”

“I’d rather just beat him in a normal election,” he said. “I really am just trying to do my best, and I’m trying to do what I think is right.”

The voicemail’s release comes days before Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Van Drew’s district in Wildwood, N.J.

Van Drew made his support for Trump official in December at an Oval Office meeting with Trump.




https://thehill.com/homenews/house/479808-nj-rep-van-drew-said-he-wouldnt-vote-for-trump-weeks-before-switching-parties