Nadler brushes off Van Drew’s planned jump to GOP, says he’s ‘reacting’ to poor poll numbers

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., brushed off reports that Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey plans to leave the Democratic Party to become a Republican.

“What he’s reacting to is public polling that shows he can’t get renominated,” Nadler said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “His electorate in his district is 24 percent to renominate him and 60 percent to nominate somebody else.”

Van Drew — who has spent months criticizing fellow Democrats for their push to impeach Trump — met with Trump on Friday to discuss going across party lines. He is one of only two Democrats who voted against opening an impeachment inquiry into Trump and has remained a fervent voice in opposition to impeaching the president.

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“Wow, that would be big,” Trump tweeted early Sunday morning of Van Drew’s planned party switch. “Always heard Jeff is very smart!”

The news of Van Drew’s possible party flip drew harsh criticism from Democrats, who called it a political move aimed at turning around his flagging approval numbers in New Jersey’s 2nd Congressional District.

A recent internal poll conducted for the Democrats found that 58 percent of primary voters in his district wanted to nominate another candidate, while only 28 percent said Van Drew should be renominated.

While other Democrats have sought to blame Van Drew’s looming exit from the party on low approval ratings, critics claim that it has more to do with the upcoming vote on impeaching President Trump. The full House is expected to vote on articles of impeachment this upcoming week and Van Drew has been an adamant detractor of the process from the start.

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Nadler on Sunday, however, argued that the impeachment process is a bigger issue than just party politics.

“This is not political,” he said. “We should not be looking at those things. This is the defense of our democracy. Do we stay a democratic republic or do we turn into a tyranny?”