President Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election have driven one retiring lawmaker out of the Republican Party.
Michigan Rep. Paul Mitchell revealed in an interview with CNN on Monday he's quitting the GOP and becoming an independent, blasting Trump for continuously challenging President-elect Joe Biden's election win and Republican leaders for not shooting down his efforts.
"This party has to stand up for democracy first, for our Constitution first, and not political considerations," Mitchell told CNN. "Not to protect a candidate. Not simply for raw political power. And that's what I feel is going on, and I've had enough."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mitchell, who noted he voted for Trump in the 2020 election and supported his policies "96 percent of the time," also released a copy of a letter to Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in which he writes that Trump's legal team has "failed to provide substantive evidence" of widespread voter fraud and urges Republican leaders not to "sit back and tolerate" his "unfounded conspiracy theories."
"With the leadership of the Republican Party and our Republican Conference in the House actively participating in at least some of those efforts, I fear long-term harm to our democracy," he writes.
Given that he only has a few weeks left in office, Mitchell acknowledges in his letter that this move is "symbolic." But he adds, "We all know that symbols matter." Brendan Morrow
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Sudoku hard: October 5, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
