Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) is opening up about why he defected from the Democratic Party after winning his Congressional seat in the 2018 “blue wave.”

“I speak to you as a member of the Republican Party, but it always wasn’t that way. How I became a Republican says a lot about today’s Democratic Party,” Van Drew said on Thursday night.

He proceeded to recount how Democratic operatives recruited him to run for a local election and told him the party was a “big-tent” party and would accept his moderate views. 

However, he said he observed a shift in the party’s values, “I was elected to Council as a Democrat. But as I won seats for county office, state legislature, and then Congress, I noticed things were changing. The Democratic Party had become less accepting of American tradition. Less believing in American exceptionalism. Less supportive of traditional faith and family. This was not the party that I knew.”

He said that he was “uncomfortable with a San Francisco liberal running the House” and that he voted against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), reclaiming her post in 2019.

However, he said he was more dismayed to see “‘The Squad’ quickly take control of the Democratic Party … the party had moved from liberal to radical.”

“This new Democratic Party wasn’t just for higher taxes. Now they were for open borders, against our police, and against our God gave rights,” he charged.

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He continued to say that Democratic leaders told him he had to vote for impeachment, “Or my life would be made difficult, and I wouldn’t be allowed to run again.”

“Listen, I’m from South Jersey, and you better come at me with more than just loud words and empty threats. I voted no on impeachment, and it was an easy call,” he added.

He said when he met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office shortly after the impeachment vote, the president “made me feel more comfortable and welcome in the Oval Office than Nancy Pelosi ever made me feel in her caucus.”

Van Drew officially became a Republican in December, 2019, and pledge his “undying support” to President Donald Trump. He is running for re-election in New Jersey, and polls show currently show a tight race.