BETTENDORF, Iowa — David Millage says he was appalled, watching rioters storm the US Capitol last month.
After watching the news roll in all afternoon, he got a call from a Quad City Times reporter that evening, and gave his opinion on the events he was watching unfold in Washington.
"That's when I said he oughta be impeached. And I stand by what I said," says Millage. "The more I read about it, the more his conduct is indefensible, and he should be convicted and never allowed to hold office again."
He says the quote was printed online, instantly. And then the calls, texts, and emails, came flooding in instantly too. Millage says they were from people he knew and respected - many that he had spent hours working with, to get Republicans elected.
None, he says, were contacting him to have a discussion.
"They'd already made up their minds. I was called names, I was called a traitor, I was called narcissistic, I was only looking out for myself. How they could come up with that, I don't know. And narcissistic... how does that make me narcissistic that I criticized something that should be criticized, in my view," questioned Millage.
At first he says people were asking for him to put out a qualifying statement. But eventually, calls started coming for his resignation. Within 24 hours of making his statement to the paper, Millage stepped down as chairman of the Scott County Republicans.
Now a month later, the long-time politician and conservative activist stands by what he said that night, and by the party that ousted him.
Growing up in Bettendorf, Millage says he was always invested in politics. He even remembers watching the 1964 Republican and Democrat Conventions.
"I wanted to make a difference," he said. "And I think everybody should be engaged, civically, in some manner."
But he says he wasn't always a member of the GOP. It wasn't until going to college at the University of Iowa that he began to align with conservative values. Since then, he says, he's never looked back.
As a state lawmaker, Millage had a reputation of being passionate and tightfisted - often, it would take plenty of negotiations and discussions to convince him to spend any government funds. He served on the Appropriations Chair and says he's especially proud of his work to balance Iowa's budget, cut income taxes, put money into education and create legislation to better protect minors who had been sexually abused, during their court testimonies.
Soon after retiring from the state, he was approached by the Scott County Republicans.
"The party came to me two years ago - I didn't come to the party - and said they wanted me to run for the chairman," he remembers. "It was not something I was planning to do, but they told me they needed a leader and they thought I had the qualities."
As chairman, Millage was heavily involved in gathering and leading volunteers for a variety of state and local elections. But even though he enjoyed his work, he had only planned on serving one term. In fact, he joked that his wife was trying to move to Florida after he stepped down, so he couldn't run again.
When he sent in his resignation in January, it was only a month short of when he was planning on vacating his position. He says the only reason he didn't wait it out was because so many people within the organization wanted to see him gone.
"I said if you want it, you got it," he quipped.
A two-time Trump voter, Millage says he watched and listened to the former president's rhetoric over the past four years and was, at times, troubled by it. But he says he was just as confident in his 2020 vote as he was back in 2016.
"Trump's behavior has been troublesome and almost, at times, indefensible, but it had nothing to do with policy," he said. "Belittling remarks he made reflect poorly upon him as a person, but they don't effect the policies that he was pursuing. And as long as he was pursuing the correct policies, I could overlook the rhetoric."
When Trump's first impeachment trial happened at the start of 2020, Millage says he thought it was bogus, and saw no signs of a quid pro quo. Instead, he felt the Democrats rushed through the proceedings.
This time around, he still feels as though the trial was too rushed, but he does think the former president should be impeached.
"The worst thing he did, that I didn't know that night, was doing nothing. Letting the riots ensue. Sat in his home and wouldn't take any phone calls," said Millage. "I mean, what a dereliction of duty. And he's commander in chief! If he would have done that in the military, he would have been court marshalled."
He says the real impeachable offense was Trump's undermining of an American election, and cited the instances where the president called upon elected officials to "find ballots."
However, he says many local Republicans were angry at his statements because of the position he carried, as the party leader.
"Party leaders should not criticize the party," he said. "I was not criticizing the party, I was criticizing Donald Trump."
But Millage doesn't think his experience reflects upon the larger portion of the republican base. To him, it just shows Trump's strong following within Scott County, and hopes that an evolution will take place before the 2024 election, where his party can unite on policies rather than individual political figures.
"I'm still a republican. I think it's still important that I remain a republican and help to chart a new course for the party for the next several years," he said.
Millage says the only viable option to the Democrats are the Republicans, and pointed out many liberal policies that he's staunchly against, including what he called the "budget fiasco."
"I still believe in the Republican principles. And that's what I would say to all the people who support President Trump. We still all believe in the same things - we believe in limited government, we believe in fiscal and monetary responsibility, although we haven't been acting that way lately, we all believe in the protection of gun rights, we all believe that the unborn should be protected and we all believe in conservative judges. The Republican party has not changed since the time before Trump, nor has it changed today because of Trump. All the principles of the party were there before Trump came along and they're there now."
Now looking forward, Millage says he'll watch the Senate's impeachment trial, although he joked that he would not go out of his way to do so. And he plans on being at the caucuses as a proud Republican from Bettendorf.
He's confident that this moment, where it seems as though two factions of the party are warring for power, will pass if the base can recognize that they're stronger together.
"We've got to hang together. The people who support Trump need to hang with those of us who don't support Trump. He's an individual, he's not the part. He's not the principles of the party," said Millage. "We have principles to fight for, policies to fight for, and we're not gonna be successful separate. We've gotta be together, we've gotta be united."
The Scott County GOP did not respond to a request for comment.