After voting to impeach Trump, Rep. Rice faces primary challengers

After voting to impeach¹ Trump², Rep. Rice faces primary challengers

Transcript³

South Carolina Congressman⁴ Tom Rice, one of the Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, now faces a slew⁵ of primary challengers.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Former President Donald Trump wants to unseat one of the lawmakers who voted to impeach him. Representative Tom Rice was one of the few Republicans to do that for Trump's role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol last year. Trump has endorsed⁶ a primary challenger to Rice. Here's Victoria Hansen of South Carolina Public Radio.

VICTORIA HANSEN, BYLINE⁷: It is a chilly⁸ morning along the Waccamaw River in Conway, near Myrtle Beach, and the waterway, known for flooding, is calm. But raging yards away - a handful of protesters waving signs outside a riverfront community center. One reads, Rice hates Trump more than he loves America, referring to Tom Rice, the district's Republican congressman.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And he decides to vote against our guy and try to impeach him?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: He doesn't represent us.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: He doesn't need us anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: No.

HANSEN: Inside the center, Rice speaks before a chamber⁹ of commerce crowd. He touts¹⁰ his accomplishments¹¹, stressing he voted with former President Trump more than 90% of the time. The impeachment¹² vote got Rice censured¹³ by the state's Republican Party. But he says Trump was responsible for the Capitol riot.

TOM RICE: If we're going to have a scenario¹⁴ where the president can try to intimidate¹⁵ Congress into doing what he wants, then, shoot, might as well have a monarchy¹⁶.

HANSEN: Rice vividly¹⁷ remembers the attack, seeing beaten, bloody¹⁸ police as he sought safety from the House floor. He says the president should have stopped the violence.

RICE: And if the consequences are that the people think that what happened is OK, then, you know, I guess I'm not the guy.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: When we were counting on Tom Rice to stand with President Trump, he let us down, turned his back on us.

HANSEN: State Representative Russell Fry is challenging Rice in the June primary and was just endorsed by Trump. He called Fry yesterday.

RUSSELL FRY: He said that he'd been following our work at the State House, from election integrity to the heartbeat bill to the Open Carry Act that we passed last year.

HANSEN: The 37-year-old supports Trump's false claims the election was rigged and says the former president was not responsible for the Capitol violence. Fry believes he better represents people in the 7th District because he listens to what matters to them. He says of Rice...

FRY: And he hasn't done that and continued to kind of poke¹⁹ the voters in the eye, and they're frustrated²⁰. And I get that because I'm frustrated, too.

HANSEN: Rice has a slew of primary challengers. Among them, 50-year-old single mother of three Jeanette Spurlock, who says the district doesn't need another politician. Making campaign T-shirts in a spare bedroom, she says she, too, is angry with Rice.

JEANETTE SPURLOCK: My heart is aching right now because I just feel betrayed, and a lot of people do feel betrayed.

HANSEN: Spurlock has no plans to drop out. She, like several others, just wants to run against Rice.

JERRY ROVNER: That's one of the vulnerabilities of Tom Rice. Nobody would have thought of doing that.

HANSEN: District Republican Party Chair Jerry Rovner believes the impeachment vote could cost Rice's job. He expects the number of challengers to dwindle²¹ with the Trump endorsement²². And he says a primary that allows voters from any party to weigh in may favor the congressman.

ROVNER: So if there's not a viable²³ candidate on the Democratic side, he's going to get a lot of votes because people are going to come in and vote in the primary. And that's where it'll be won or lost.

HANSEN: Rice feels he still has support in his district.

RICE: I will tell you that for every person that expresses disappointment, 10 people tell me, thank you. Now, are those the people that are going to vote in the Republican primary? I don't know.

HANSEN: What he does know is his political future could come down to one vote.

For NPR News, I'm Victoria Hansen in Conway, S.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAMMAL HANDS' "HOURGLASS")

1 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

6 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 touts   

n.招徕( tout的名词复数 )；（音乐会、体育比赛等的）卖高价票的人；侦查者；探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• Many vouchers are returned for cash, allowing touts and middle men to make a healthy margin. 许多月饼券都被兑换成现金，这让券贩子和中间商赚取了不蜚的利润。 来自互联网
• Spotting prey, the customary crowd of hustlers and touts swarmed around, jostling for my business. 照例有大群的拉客黄牛在寻觅猎物，他们争相过来抢我的生意。 来自互联网

11 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 impeachment   

n.弹劾；控告；怀疑

参考例句：

• Impeachment is considered a drastic measure in the United States.在美国，弹劾被视为一种非常激烈的措施。
• The verdict resulting from his impeachment destroyed his political career.他遭弹劾后得到的判决毁了他的政治生涯。

13 censured   

v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 )

参考例句：

• They were censured as traitors. 他们被指责为叛徒。 来自辞典例句
• The judge censured the driver but didn't fine him. 法官责备了司机但没罚他款。 来自辞典例句

14 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

15 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

16 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

17 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

18 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

19 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

20 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

22 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

23 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。