Rep. Colin Allred on Monday defended his support of an impeachment inquiry targeted at Donald Trump, telling constituents that the president crossed the line by using the nation’s foreign policy to advance his political agenda.

“It’s not something that I wanted to end up doing. It’s not a road I wanted to go down,” Allred said at a town hall meeting at the Greater Cornerstone Baptist Church in Hamilton Park.

“He used the foreign policy of the United States for his political interests,” Allred said about Trump. “That’s why we are where we are now. This, in my opinion, crossed the line.”

Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, launched an impeachment inquiry after Trump asked the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The request came after the men talked about financial support to the country.

Before the telephone call, Allred said he was happy to let the matter of Trump’s conduct be settled by the 2020 election, but that doesn’t mollify his GOP critics.

On Monday, Trump’s presidential campaign and local Republicans staged a protest at the Dallas Democrat’s district office.

“Texans have had enough of the fake news 24 hours a day and the political circus the liberal socialist Democrats like AOC and Nancy Pelosi create,” said former state Sen. Don Huffines, R-Dallas. “They couldn’t beat Trump at the polls and their immature desperation to impeach the president is an embarrassment. Voters see Colin Allred has failed to produce results in Congress and he’s only interested in the political circus that his party had created.”

The AOC to which Huffines is referring is Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

Former State Sen., Don Huffines speaks at an anti-impeachment pro-Trump campaign event called, “Stop the Madness,” outside Rep. Colin Allred’s district office at 100 N. Central Expressway in Richardson, Texas on October 14, 2019. ((Robert W. Hart/Special Contributor))

Most of the crowd gathered at the town hall meeting were in favor of the Democrat’s decision to support an impeachment inquiry against Trump. They applauded after his comments on the issue.

But some in attendance questioned the wisdom and fairness of the process.

When Allred said the inquiry would be open and fair, a member of the audience shouted: “It hasn’t been so far," specifically questioning why Democrats hadn’t officially voted on an impeachment inquiry. Allred said they didn’t have to do so by law.

Allred also was asked how he knew an investigation would end up looking bad for Trump, as opposed to Biden, whom the president has suggested is unethical.

“We will accept them and I will move on,” Allred said of the findings of the investigation, adding that there’s no evidence Biden has done anything wrong.

Allred, who last year beat incumbent Republican Pete Sessions to win the 32nd Congressional District seat, has been on the job nine months. Fellow Democrats consider him a rising star.

He’s running for reelection in the northern and eastern Dallas County district against the winner of the GOP primary between businesswoman Genevieve Collins and former Navy Seal Floyd McLendon. Huffines is considering a campaign, but has yet to enter the race.

At the town hall meeting, Allred said he hopes his bill to lower the cost of prescription drugs will pass Congress, as well as the development of a veterans’ health center in Garland.

“This bill should move and hopefully have an impact on your lives,” he said of efforts to stop drug companies from gouging consumers.

Allred also lamented that an impeachment inquiry was dominated the news out of Washington, saying he wanted to work with Republicans and Democrats to bring solutions to the nation’s problems.