Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) walks down the House steps in February 2018. (Bill Clark/AP) Republican Rep. Paul Mitchell’s surprise retirement began with a President Trump tweet. Moments after Trump’s July 14 missive telling four U.S. congresswomen of color to “go back” to their countries of origin, the congressman from Michigan phoned a fellow House GOP leader and asked him to get Trump to stop. “It’s the wrong thing for a leader to say,” he told the leader, whom he declined to name. “It’s politically damaging to the party, to the country.” Three days later, Mitchell was awaiting a prime-time CNN appearance when he saw footage of Trump rallygoers chanting “send her back!,” aimed at one of the congresswomen, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Stunned, Mitchell said he scribbled questions marks on a notepad to silently ask an aide: “How do I even respond to this on TV?” But one of the final straws was the unwillingness of people in Trump’s orbit to listen. Mitchell implored Vice President Pence, his chief of staff Marc Short and “any human being that has any influence in the White House” to arrange a one-on-one conversation between him and the president so he could express […]

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