It’s official. Jeff Van Drew, one of two Democrats who voted not to impeachment Trump last night, met with Trump in the Oval Office where they announced he is becoming a Republican:
THE HILL – President Trump met with Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (N.J.) at the White House on Thursday and announced that the Democrat would switch parties and become a Republican.
“Jeff will be joining the Republican Party,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon, after teasing a “very big announcement.”
Van Drew told Trump he has his “undying support.”
“I believe that this is just a better fit for me,” he said. “This is who I am.”
Trump and Van Drew were joined in the meeting by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Vice President Pence, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and Ivanka Trump.
Trump said he endorsed Van Drew, while McCarthy and Pence also pledged their support for the new Republican.
The meeting in the Oval Office came one day after the House voted nearly strictly around party lines to approve two articles of impeachment against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Here’s a bit more on this
.@GOPLeader Kevin McCarthy on Van Drew: He’s going from the majority to the minority. That doesn’t happen.
Trump says Dems aren’t going to be the majority for long, per pool.— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) December 19, 2019
Van Drew says in the Oval Office that there were other times in his life he’s thought about switching parties. “This is just a better fit for me,” he says. Trump then says he is endorsing him.
— Katherine Faulders (@KFaulders) December 19, 2019
Below is video of Van Drew meeting with Trump, explaining to him how some Democrats were disgusted by two bills he crafted that would enable any public or private building to post “In God We Trust” on the wall, as well as to hang the American Flag any way they wanted as long as it was respectful: