The eight members of the United States House of Representatives representing South Florida districts voted along party lines in President Donald Trump's second impeachment.
Trump was impeached Wednesday over the assault on the U.S. Capitol, making him the first president to be impeached twice. The vote came just a week after he encouraged loyalists to “fight like hell” against election results and then a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
South Florida's three GOP members - Reps. Carlos Gimenez, Mario Diaz-Balart and the newly sworn-in Maria Elvira Salazar - all voted against impeachment.
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"I cannot support the dangerous precedent of impeachment without the proper investigation process. We must move forward and unite," Gimenez, the former Mayor of Miami-Dade County, said in a statement.
"I welcome President-elect Biden as our next president and vow to work with the incoming administration to ensure we deliver results for #FL26."
Salazar placed her vote after being sworn in earlier Tuesday, which was delayed after she was quarantined in her South Florida home after testing positive for COVID-19.
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“Congress must come together to deeply and seriously investigate the actions of the January 6th riot to ensure all responsible are held accountable," Salazar said in a statement.
"Impeachment of a sitting President is one of the most severe actions Congress can take, and we must only act after thoughtful and scrutinous debate," the statement continued.
After a week of request from NBC 6, Mario Diaz-Balart talked about his decision to vote no on impeachment.
“This whole thing is a farce. It’s a lie,” he said.
He continued:
“But it’s a very divisive farce. It’s a very divisive lie and [...] as opposed to continue to amp up hatred and division, my attitude is we need to start coming together as a country. We need to look at ways where we can work together and not continue to inflame the passions.”
A total of 10 Republican House members voted to impeach Trump — the most bipartisan support for an impeachment in U.S. history.
At the same time, the five Democratic members of the House from South Florida - Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Frederica Wilson, Alcee Hastings and Ted Deutch - voted for the impeachment.
“This Donald Trump has put so much fear in the hearts and minds of Republican legislators—Republican elected officials [...] — that his base will throw them out of office and they are scared of Donald Trump,” Wilson said.
The Republicans who voted to impeach Trump were Liz Cheney of Wyoming, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Dan Newhouse of Washington, Peter Meijer of Michigan, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and David Valadao of California.
