Q&A with Peter Meijer: GOP Senate candidate talks Trump, abortion and more

For someone with his name recognition and wealth, you'd think former U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer would have a simpler path to succeeding U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

A member of the family that founded the eponymous grocery store chain, Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, seemingly has it all, including relative youth (he's 35), a quick wit, a military background and something Michiganders say they love: an independent streak.

But it's that independent streak that has gotten him into trouble, costing him — at least in part — renomination to the west Michigan congressional seat he held for a term, after voting to impeach Donald Trump for instigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify the vote for President Joe Biden.

And the GOP hasn't forgotten: Shortly after Meijer announced his candidacy for the Senate race, the state Republican Party posted something on social media reminding readers about Meijer's vote, though it was taken down quickly and credited to "an overzealous intern."

There was no such retraction at the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in Washington, where its executive director told the website Politico that Meijer "isn't viable in a primary election" and that even if he were nominated, it would depress the GOP base in the general.

The theory about Meijer, though, is that his independent streak — and the vision of him as a centrist, even if he hews largely to conservative positions — is that if he were to outpace a GOP field that includes former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, state Board of Education member Nikki Snyder and others — he'd be a formidable general election candidate, potentially peeling off enough suburban Democratic and independent voters to be the first Republican nominee to win a U.S. Senate seat in Michigan since 1994.

Certainly, GOP candidates — especially those hewing to the Trump line — have had a hard time winning in Michigan and other swing states of late. And Democratic candidates for the job — U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, of Lansing, chief among them in a field that includes actor Hill Harper, former state Rep. Leslie Love, Dearborn businessman Nasser Beydoun and others — are certainly going into the election expecting to use antipathy toward Trump against the Republican nominee.

For the record, Meijer has already begun to make clear that he doesn't view Trump or his policies as all bad, telling Politico he plans to support the GOP nominee for president even if it is the former president, though he isn't endorsing anyone at least at this point. And after saying two years ago that Trump "bears the responsibility for inciting the insurrection we suffered," Meijer now says he doesn't believe Trump committed insurrection or that he should be held off the ballot. He even has some kind words for the former president.

Here's what we learned, edited for clarity and brevity, during a recent sit-down.

On the Republican race and where he fits in

"I think there are a lot of folks that are frustrated with the status quo for sure. But to me, the bigger question is what are we going to replace this current status quo with? Do we have a desire to go back to what the Republican Party of 2015 was? Which I think was failing to adapt to the needs of the voters, had some strengths on the institutional, organizational side but had grown removed from broader conversations and lacked energy and enthusiasm. Or do we continue (with) the status quo ... which certainly has its strengths on the energy and emotive side but at the same time has struggled organizationally and struggled to really be something that can endure in the long-term. So I don't think the answer is going to be simple."

On the NRSC saying he's not a 'viable' candidate

"If the voters of Michigan want somebody who is going to be taking orders from folks in Washington, who is going to not want to upset the apple cart, who is going to work to maintain and protect the status quo as we have right now, I'm probably not their candidate. If they want somebody who has demonstrated both tremendous frustration and tremendous antipathy towards the complacent establishments of both parties, somebody who is not afraid to have kind of sharp elbows, isn't afraid to speak up when they see something wrong and isn't going to settle for the status quo, those are the voters I'm talking to."

On abortion and whether Congress should have a role regulating it

"I'm proudly pro-life. ... That said, we are clearly in a different world today (following the reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed abortion access nationally). I do not support federal bans on abortion, period. ... I thoroughly believe that will be decided at the state level. The voters in the state of Michigan clearly spoke in this last election with Prop 3 (which guaranteed abortion access in the state). And while that was not something that I supported — and I'm frankly frustrated that we went from what I would say was a very reasonable set of restrictions around late-term abortions prior to Prop 3 and now have no restrictions whatsoever — those decisions need to be made at the state level, with elected officials, through the ballot box, with voters."

On America's role in the Middle East

"I think we're seeing a fundamental realignment largely predicated on (the United States') projection of weakness, frankly, during the Afghanistan withdrawal and everything that has come since then. ... We are not really playing by the rules of the region. We are living in a fantasy land of some international affairs symposium as opposed to the cold, hard realities on the ground. ... There's no one easy policy solution.

"I will say this attitude of being utterly predictable, of your enemies knowing exactly what you will do and how, of knowing how much they can get away with before you will offer a response is one of the reasons why we've been seeing escalating attacks on American troops and facilities in the region. ... This is one of the areas where I think Donald Trump was very effective of not projecting a sense that, OK ... you can poke us a thousand times and it will never warrant a punch."

On whether Trump engaged in insurrection

"No, I do not think he engaged in insurrection or rebellion. I do believe he should be on the ballot or voters should have that choice. ... I will also (acknowledge) the article of impeachment (against Trump, for inciting the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which he voted for) made the allegation of incitement of insurrection. It's important to make a very firm distinction between a political determination, which an impeachment proceeding inherently is ... and a legal determination. None of the open legal cases point towards that. There has been no firm conviction and I think we are treading on incredibly dangerous ground if we start to both reopen interpretations."

On the Justice Department charges against Trump

"I think it's important to put the documents case (whether he wrongly withheld classified documents after leaving office) a little bit off to the side. ... Ironically, Donald Trump's defense that his remarks when caught on tape talking about, 'Well, I shouldn't be showing you this,' that those were, braggadocio or just an exaggeration, which is in keeping (with his demeanor) is actually a pretty believable defense.

"I can't speak as much to ... what the government has brought forward around (the attack on the Capitol). One of the things Donald Trump said in the immediate aftermath of those (charges) being introduced was, to me, entirely appropriate, which was why is this being brought forward now and not 2½ years ago... I retain a heavy, heavy sense of skepticism that there is no partisan political influence in this process."

On whether he needs to sway Trump voters

"I go into this race needing to project and communicate who I am, what I believe and what I'm hoping to do. ... The Republican Party writ large has struggled (in channeling the energy Trump brought to it) towards something productive. There are too many folks in Washington ... (who) get more excited about ripping another Republican to shreds than about critiquing Democratic arguments and offering a better alternative. I think that feeds into just the entertainment nature of our politics.

"Certainly there was plenty entertaining about Donald Trump. I think he was inarguably the funniest president we've ever had from a knee-jerk sense of humor. But the difficulty right now is you have kind of an establishment in Washington that recognizes and tries to kind of copy some of that or candidates who try to copy (it) rather than understanding what made the product so appealing to begin with, what made Trump as a candidate so appealing, which was that he was willing to flout convention. He wasn't listening to the large egos in Washington that thought they had a great grasp of how things were going. And he believed in what he was saying and he believed in himself. ... I'm running with the same set of intentions. ... We frankly need more folks in the political arena like that."

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Peter Meijer: GOP Senate candidate talks Trump, abortion and more