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ICYMI: Post and Courier: SC Republicans tell Democrat Rep. Joe Cunningham pick a side, denounce Trump impeachment

Yesterday, voters across the Lowcountry converged on Rep. Joe Cunningham’s Mt. Pleasant office to tell him it is time to “Stop the Madness” and demand that he vote to end the baseless impeachment witch hunt against President Trump.

This counter-impeachment event was part of a nationwide effort to hold vulnerable Democrats, like Joe Cunningham, accountable for their extreme actions and politically motivated behavior.

Recently, the RNC debuted a new website, StopTheMadness.gop, which operates as a one-stop clearing house to defend the president– including opportunities for people to sign up as a volunteer, details on how to show up to a counter protest, and more. A $2 million TV and digital buy is also part of the nationwide push against 60+ vulnerable Democrats who campaigned on reaching across the aisle to work with President Trump – including targeting the district of Rep. Joe Cunningham

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SC Republicans tell Democrat Rep. Joe Cunningham pick a side, denounce Trump impeachment
Post and Courier
Caitlyn Byrd
October 8, 2019
https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/sc-republicans-tell-democrat-rep-joe-cunningham-pick-a-side/article_6758150a-e9fb-11e9-8744-d7fa58b0cd77.html

Protesters wearing red MAGA hats and waving blue Trump flags rallied outside Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham’s Mount Pleasant office Tuesday with a list of demands.

Top on their minds was calling on the freshman lawmaker to denounce the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump over his dealings with Ukraine’s president.

“He thinks he can play it safe and be on the fence or in the middle of the road, if you will,” S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick said.

“But usually when you’re riding down the road in South Carolina, the only thing you see in the middle of the road is road kill,” he added.  

Cunningham is one of eight House Democrats who does not support Trump’s impeachment or the impeachment inquiry yet. He’s also a vulnerable Democrat facing reelection in a congressional district that voted for Trump in 2016.

Cunningham was in Beaufort on Tuesday meeting with young business leaders and touring an assisted living facility.

In a statement provided to The Post and Courier, Cunningham sought to further clarify his stance on the impeachment inquiry, including to say his reluctance has nothing to do with the political makeup of his congressional district.

“Right now, Congress is investigating the President — not impeaching the President,” he said. “I want to be clear that I am withholding judgment on whether our President should be impeached until hearing all the evidence and ideally, hearing directly from the whistleblowers.”

Cunningham went on to say the investigation should not be “decided on Twitter, by the news media or by partisans in either party. It’s why I’ve tried to act responsibly and deliberately, without letting politics or tribalism influence my thinking.”

He called on the the White House to comply with all document requests from Congress and not obstruct the investigatory path.

McKissick doesn’t see it that way.

During his remarks to the 55 protesters, McKissick characterized the impeachment efforts as a “witch hunt” and the continuation of a politically movitivated push by Democrats to oust Trump from the White House.

“Ever since 2016, Democrats have been working to steal that election,” he said, adding, “It’s not going to work.”

The anti-impeachment protest held outside Cunningham’s office was part of a nationwide messaging blitz by Republicans and the Trump Victory Committee to simultaneously call for Democrats to drop the impeachment inquiry.

Part of that effort is to put pressure on vulnerable House Democrats like Cunningham to “stop the madness.”

In a press call Monday, the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign confirmed their “Stop the Madness” campaign will include a combined $10 million national ad buy. RNC spokesman Rick Gorka confirmed South Carolina will be getting a “double dose” of ads from both the Trump campaign and the RNC.

The ads, he confirmed, will be running in target congressional districts, which includes South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.

Two of Cunningham’s Republican congressional challengers — Mount Plesant Town Councilwoman Kathy Landing and former Bikers for Trump founder Chris Cox  — attended the counter-impeachment protest. They, too, sought to put pressure on the congressmen they are hoping to unseat “No matter what happens we have to stay together,” Landing said. “We’re all united with Donald Trump.”

Cox called Cunningham weak, timid and visionless.

“He’s weak because he hasn’t kept his promises to put the Lowcountry over party. He’s timid because, obviously, he doesn’t show up to things like this. He’s a lapdog for nancy Pelosi and he’s visionless because he’s following the herd in Washington,” he said.

About 50 yards away, a small counterprotest of six people stood on another corner of the sidewalk.

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