Rep. Elissa Slotkin defends Trump impeachment stance in Republican-heavy Livingston County

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin defended her call to investigate impeachable offenses against President Donald Trump during a meeting Thursday in Republican-heavy Livingston County.

Slotkin, D-Holly, spoke at the Cromaine District Library in Hartland. The event was originally scheduled to take place at Biggby Coffee at 11325 W. Highland Road in Hartland. Organizers moved the event Wednesday afternoon due to higher-than-expected attendance at the previous day's event at the Grand Traverse Pie Company in East Lansing.

Slotkin explains impeachment outlook on first stop of tour of Michigan's 8th District

She spoke in front a crowd that vocally showed support for Trump – interrupting Slotkin multiple times and holding up signs supporting the president.

"Very specifically, the issue that got to me is this idea that the president – the most powerful man in the world – reached out to a foreigner, a foreign leader, and asked him to dig up dirt on an American," Slotkin told the capacity crowd, many of whom were there in support of Trump. "This is something the president himself acknowledged. This is something the president's lawyer acknowledged."

According to a whistleblower complaint filed in August, Trump withheld Congress-approved funding from Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky investigated the business interests in the country of Hunter Biden, son of Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Slotkin told constituents she doesn't know who the whistleblower is that filed a complaint against Trump but for her: "There was enough to start an inquiry."

Livingston County heavily supported Trump in the 2016 election, with 65,680 votes cast for him and Vice President Mike Pence, as opposed to the 34,384 votes cast for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine. 

Slotkin was one of seven congressional Democrats who wrote a joint op-ed in The Washington Post in support of impeachment proceedings after a whistleblower alleged Trump tried to use his presidential power to get a foreign leader to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential contender.

"I have not been supportive of an impeachment inquiry up until now," she said. "That includes after April when the Mueller report came out and Robert Mueller came and testified."

Supporters of both sides attended the event with signs, some reading, "Rep. Slotkin is strong on National Security," and others, "Trump Pence 2020."

Crowd has divided opinions

The capacity crowd inside the building, and those outside, displayed strong opinions about Slotkin's stance on impeachment. 

"She put her duty to protect our national security ahead of her political career and for that I salute her," said Tom Moran, 64, a Tyrone Township resident. "I was against an impeachment hearing, which is all that they are talking about, until she announced she was supporting them after the whistleblower report. At that point, we had to go forward. We had to look at the facts. We had to have hearings and people under oath, and I want to find out why there was a cover up."

​Alan Pittel, 58, from Hartland, supports Trump; he brought a sign that advertised the Super Political Action Committee called People and Politics.

"Elissa Slotkin doesn't represent over half of the district in District 8, and we're here today to tell her no impeachment of President Trump," Pittel said.

Even though Meshawn Maddock lives in Milford, located in the 11th U.S. Congressional District represented by Democrat Haley Stevens, she came to show support for Trump.

"She's talking to the wrong people in this area," Maddock said. "I'm actually glad she supports impeachment. I'm glad she's doubling down on it. It's going to be easier to vote her out."

Jane Benkarski, 61, fromBrighton, supports Slotkin even though she is more politically progressive than her, she said.

"I wanted to be here just to say, 'I support you'. I believe in what you're doing and I understand your positions even though at times I actually don't agree with you," Benkarski said. "I really feel that we've become so tribal that it's next to impossible to come to some kind of conclusion because no one will compromise." 

Other issues

Several other issues were addressed by Slotkin, including healthcare and prescription drug prices. 

A bill introduced earlier this year to lower prescription drug prices could come to a vote in the House soon, she said. 

"This prescription drug bill does a lot of good things that both Democrats and Republicans have been talking about," Slotkin said. "The most important thing is it breaks the seal and allows Medicare to negotiate for drug prices, which is something both the Democrats and Republicans and the President have been talking about, so I'm thrilled to see it in the bill."

The bill also helps equalize prescription drug prices with those in other countries, she said to a round of applause. "It will help balance out those prices and help put some of those savings into investments in the National Institutes of Health to help do the research that we know we need to do on life-saving drugs." 

Brighton residents Joe and Kathy Carney talked about their impressions of Slotkin's talk.

Joe Carney was the chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party in the late 1990s and early 2000s, until the mid-2000s, while Kathy Carney was chair of the party's eighth district between 2008 to 2018, according to county party chair Judy Daubenmier.

Veterans issues were one of the topics Joe Carney wanted to hear about, he said.

"I expect she's doing a lot but I'm always looking for more," said Carney, who served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1967 in its special forces as a demolitionist.

Slotkin is schedule to speak in the district for the third time in three days at 4 p.m. on Friday at the American Legion in Rochester.

More:

3 takeaways from Elissa Slotkin's forum in Howell

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Sean Bradley at 517-552-2860 or at spbradley@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @SbradleyLD. Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Timar at 517-548-7148 or at jtimar@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Facebook @Jennifer.Timar99 and Twitter @JenTimar99.