Republican spokesman Tom Rice, who voted to impeach Trump, called the former president a “past.”

• Member of Parliament Tom Rice has criticized former President Trump’s attempts to influence voters in his Republican primary.
• Rice was one of 10 Republicans in the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Trump for his role on Jan. 6.
• “For me, his gross failure – his unforgivable failure – was when he started,” Rice told the NYT.

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Republican spokesman Tom Rice, who was one of only 10 Republicans to impeach former President Donald Trump for his role in the Capitol Rebellion on January 6, 2021, has not backed down.

In an interview with The New York Times, Rice, who is seeking a GOP nomination for a sixth term in his conservative congressional district in South Carolina, will not back down from pressure from the former president, who calls him “RINO,” meaning “Republican.” in his own name “or declares that his career has ended due to his subsequent vote.

Rice told the newspaper that he continues to reject Trump’s behavior on January 6.

“For me, his gross failure – his unforgivable failure – was when it started,” the congressman said of the uprising.

He continued: “He was watching him happen. He was enjoying it. And he didn’t take any action to stop him. I think he had a duty to try to stop him and he failed in that duty.”

Rice – who was a key player in Trump-backed Republican tax reform in 2017 – said at the time that the 2024 presidency, led by the former president, would not be good for the party.

“He is the past,” the congressman told Trump. “I hope he doesn’t run again. And I think if he runs again, he will hurt the Republican Party.”

He added: “We desperately need someone to unite people. And he is not that person.”

Rice expressed disappointment with Trump’s attempts to drive Republican voters away from him in the primary.

“Involve the circus,” the congressman said. “You know, some people are afraid of clowns. I’m not afraid of clowns.”

In an interview with ABC News earlier this week, Rice said his vote to impeach Trump for inciting an uprising was made in accordance with the Constitution.

“Protecting the Constitution is the basis of the republican platform, defend the Constitution and that’s what I did,” he said. “It was the conservative vote. I have no doubt in my mind.”

He stressed: “I did it then and I would do it again tomorrow.”