In a state that gave former Republican President Donald Trump 57.8% of the stateâs 2016 vote for president and 57.6% in the 2020 presidential election, Republican Third District U.S. Rep. Michael Guest found the courage to join 35 other Republican members of Congress in voting for an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
That vote bucked Trump and GOP House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty. The vote drew immediate criticism from the Trump faction in the national GOP and criticism on social media in Mississippi. Guestâs vote aligned him with the stateâs only Democratic congressman, Second District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Bolton â the chairmen of the House Homeland Security Committee who led negotiations on behalf of his party for establishment of the commission.