Donald Trump praised a young California state assemblyman four years ago as “a MAGA champion,” helping launch him into Congress. Now, that same politician has abandoned the Republican Party.
Rep. Kevin Kiley of California said Monday that he was “immediately” leaving the Republican Party to become an independent during a phone call with reporters. The 41-year-old described his switch as stemming from “frustration with partisanship itself.”
The California lawmaker, who is up for reelection this year, also refused to commit to being a reliable vote for House Speaker Mike Johnson until his term ends.
“I don’t know if he would tell you I have been so far,” Kiley said, according toAxios.
Kiley, 41, formally announced his departure from the GOP on social media Friday, blasting “partisanship” and referring to gerrymandering as a “plague on democracy.”
“As an elected representative, I’ve always seen my role as being an independent voice for our community, holding politicians in Sacramento and Washington accountable to serve my constituents. I answer to you, not party leaders,” Kiley wrote in an X post viewed almost 600,000 times as of publication.
“That’s the kind of representation I believe the newly-drawn Sixth District deserves.”
He continued: “It is no secret I’ve been frustrated, at times disgusted, by the hyper-partisanship in Congress. In the last year it’s led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, a massive increase in healthcare costs, and of course, a pointless redistricting war. The epidemic of gerrymandering has spread from Texas to California to states all across the country. Both parties are complicit.”
Kiley went on to say that political division has emerged as a “serious problem” nationwide and called for greater unity, which he said is now “more important than ever.”
The congressman has recently emerged as one of the few moderate House Republicans willing to break with Trump, 79, after the GOP hung him out to dry during partisan redistricting efforts last year.
Source: Drudge Report
