Massachusetts GOP members seek to censure Baker over support of Trump impeachment

Some Massachusetts GOP members are seeking to censure Gov. Charlie Baker (R) over his support of the House impeaching former President Trump following accusations that he incited the Capitol riot.

Geoff Diehl, the former Trump campaign co-chair in Massachusetts, called on Baker to “retract his stance” on Trump’s second impeachment that the governor made earlier this month after the raid on the Capitol building, the Boston Herald reported.  

Adam Lange, a Republican who ran as state committeeman for Cape Cod this year, accused Baker of dividing the state’s GOP with his support for impeachment. 

“We need to unite our Republican Party and a major reason we’re divided is Charlie Baker,” Lange told the Herald. 

“The message we’re sending is we are united as Republicans behind Donald Trump,” he added.

Baker’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Massachusetts governor initially called for Trump’s removal from office on Jan. 7 — the day after rioters stormed the Capitol in a raid that resulted in several deaths.

Baker said during a press conference that he thought “people should pursue whatever they believe will make is possible — through the most expeditious way possible — for the president to step down and for the vice president to assume the powers of the office for the next 14 days so that an orderly transition can take place,” according to the Herald.

Days later, former Vice President Mike Pence made clear he would decline to pursue the 25th Amendment to remove Trump as president.

Baker responded to Pence’s declaration by saying “impeachment is the only” option “that’s left,” according to the Herald. 

“I said at the time that I believe that Vice President Pence should be empowered to manage the transition to a new administration, and I continue to believe that,” he said on Jan. 13. 

“I also said that there were a number of means and mechanisms that were available to deal with that at that point in time,” he added. “Since then, several have been taken off the table.”

Since Baker’s statements, the House impeached Trump on an article of “incitement of insurrection,” and the Senate is preparing for a trial starting in early February. 

Seventeen Senate Republicans would need to vote to convict Trump to reach the two-thirds majority, which is very unlikely after a majority of them voted on Tuesday to declare the trial unconstitutional.

The House’s impeachment came one week before Trump was slated to leave office due to President Biden’s inauguration, which took place last week.