Just 10 Republicans voted to impeach former president Donald Trump after he incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6th. Now one of them is leaving Congress — and calling the most popular figure in his party “a cancer for the country” on the way out.
The unexpected retirement marks a victory for Trump’s agenda to oust Republicans from the party whom he perceives as disloyal, and underscores his continuing control over its direction.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R.-Ohio, announced on Thursday his decision to not seek reelection just two terms into a once-promising congressional career, despite winning his last election in a landslide. In his announcement the 36-year-old former NFL player cited a desire to “build a fuller family life,” but also described “the toxic dynamics inside our own party” as a significant factor in his decision.
Given the intensity of the Trumpification of the GOP, it’s certainly possible that Gonzalez’s retirement won’t be the last.
While Gonzalez told the New York Times that he plans to spend his energy making sure Trump won’t become president again, it’s hard to read this moment as anything other than a win for the man, who endorsed one of his former White House aides as a primary challenger to Gonzalez in February. Trump himself certainly saw it as a moment to gloat: “One down, nine to go,” Trump said in statement. Given the intensity of the Trumpification of the GOP, it’s certainly possible that Gonzalez’s retirement won’t be the last.
Gonzalez was not a Never Trump Republican — he mostly agreed with Trump’s policy outlook. But he drew a line after the events of Jan. 6th, and saw it as conduct worthy of impeachment.
The backlash to that judgment call has been substantial. The Ohio Republican Party not only censured him but alo called for his resignation, while calling the impeachment efforts meritless.
After that vote, Gonzalez has endured threats against him and his family. He described having to be escorted by security guards through an airport as an “eye-opening” moment that made him reflect further on the toll that his job was taking on his family life.
And Trump enlisted a 32-year-old former aide to try to take him down in a Republican primary — in a state that he handily won twice during his presidential runs.









