After freshman New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew officially announced his intentions to switch from the Democratic party to the Republican party on Thursday, he received what will presumably be a welcomed boost to his campaign war chest after President Donald Trump called on his millions of supporters to donate to the newest member of the team.
According to The Hill , Trump asked his supporters via social media on Friday to consider a donation that would help Van Drew, claiming Democratic challengers were already gearing up to take him down in 2020.
“The Democrat Party’s Witch Hunt and CRAZY EXTREME policies are chasing common sense people out of the Dem Party. That’s why Jeff Van Drew (@CongressmanJVD) voted NO on the Impeachment Hoax. Jeff will be joining our growing Republican Party….” Trump wrote in a two-part tweet.
“and has my FULL Endorsement. This is a BIG win for our GOP and a BIG win for South Jersey. South Jersey is TRUMP COUNTRY, so I know ALL NJ Republicans will join me in supporting Jeff Van Drew. The Dems are already coming after him, so help Jeff win,” Trump wrote in the second tweet , adding a link to an official fundraising platform for Van Drew.
News of Van Drew’s potential exit came just days before the House of Representatives voted successfully to pass two articles of impeachment drafted against the president. As a Democrat, he voted against both articles of impeachment, joining only two other Democrats who did the same.
After an Oval Office meeting on Thursday with the president, along with some of the president’s closest inner-circle advisers, including Vice President Mike Pence, Van Drew shook Trump’s hand before pledging his “undying support” to him.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, days before Van Drew’s party switch was officially announced, five of his top staffers resigned via letter in which they expressed their disappointment in their employer’s decision to change parties.
Van Drew’s voting record, which included pro-abortion and pro-gun control stances, didn’t seem to bother the president, as Trump heaped praised the soon-to-be-former Democrat on his decision to join the GOP side of the political aisle.
The New Jersey lawmaker was also questioned why he didn’t make the party switch official before the impeachment vote. In response, he explained that since the impeachment inquiry started while he was a Democrat, he thought it was best practice to vote on the measure as a Democrat.
Trump’s call for donations for his new ally comes on the heels of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee requesting that the party-switcher return an undisclosed number of smaller donations he recently received while in the Democratic party.
