Hagedorn accuses House Democrats of playing politics with impeachment inquiry
House Democrats are pursuing an impeachment inquiry against President Trump — and Congressman Jim Hagedorn is not happy about it.
Following a speech on Tuesday in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the president of violating the constitution, Hagedorn, a Republican representing southern Minnesota, took to social media to rail against what he described as “more nonsense from the radical resistance Democrats.”
“Instead of working in bipartisan fashion to pass the USMCA trade deal, an infrastructure bill, reform of the generic drug process, border security and other measures, they play politics and further alienate themselves from the majority of voters,” Hagedorn wrote on Facebook.
Hagedorn, of course, is not alone in his defense of the president. The Republican Party remains mostly unified in its opposition to the House impeachment inquiry, which Trump calls a “total Witch Hunt Scam.”
In case you are just tuning in, House Democrats are accusing President Trump of betraying his office and endangering the nation’s security by trying to enlist a foreign power to dig up dirt on a political rival.
In this case, the foreign power is Ukraine and the political rival is former vice president, and leading Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden.
This was big news, especially considering that Pelosi, the leading congressional Democrat, had resisted pressure for months to begin an impeachment inquiry against the president.
However, on Tuesday, the House Speaker said Trump’s interactions with the Ukrainian president head reached “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”
Who is Jim Hagedorn?
Jim Hagedorn represents the southern portion of the state, including Rochester. He was elected in 2018 by less than one percentage point.
As a freshman congressman, Hagedorn has continued to be a staunch supporter of the president. Like Trump, he accuses Democrats of pushing a “radical socialist” agenda. On Tuesday, that rhetoric hit a low point.
Following in the footsteps of his father, who also served in Congress, Hagedorn grew up in Blue Earth County, a rural area about 90 minutes west of here. He is pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-Trump — on just about everything.
As he explained during a Rochester town hall back in June, “When I ran for this job, I made some promises. I told you that I was a conservative that wanted to utilize the job as a conservative reinforcement in the Congress. I was very, very clear with the voters about my positions on the issues.”
Here is a link to our report from that town hall visit.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
Cover photo: Congressman Jim Hagedorn during a town hall at Rochester Community and Technical College in June / William Forsman
