“I’m Having a Good Time”: Trump Doubles Down After Impeachment
by Luis Miguel
TheNewAmerican.com
Thursday, 19 December 2019
President Trump took a resistant stand during a Wednesday night rally in Michigan, firing back at his critics and uniting supporters even as the House of Representatives voted to impeach him, making him the third president in the nation’s history to be impeached.
“It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached,” President Trump told a crowd of thousands at his Merry Christmas rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. “The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong. We have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we’ve never had before.
The two impeachment articles against the president, one for abuse of power and one for “obstruction of Congress,” were approved along a strict party-line vote on Wednesday night. All the chamber’s Republicans voted against impeachment.
Two Democrats — Representatives Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota — voted against both articles. One Democrat, Representative Jared Golden of Maine, voted for impeaching the president for abuse of power but not on obstruction of Congress.
Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), voted “present” on both impeachment resolutions.
Gabbard said in a statement that although she believes the president to be “guilty of wrongdoing,” she “could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting president must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”
The president remarked on the partisan nature of impeachment voted. “Every single Republican voted for us, wow, almost 200,” he noted.
He went on to express confidence in the future.
“They said there’s no crime. There’s no crime. I’m the first person to ever get impeached and there’s no crime. I feel guilty. It’s impeachment lite.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a good time,” the president added.
He also took a moment to hit back at Representative Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who voted for impeachment despite having thanked President Trump for lowering flags to half-mast after her husband’s death.
“She calls me up. ‘That’s the nicest thing that ever happened. Thank you so much. John would be so thrilled. He’s looking down. He’d be so thrilled,’” he quoted the congresswoman as saying.
“Maybe he’s looking up. I don’t know…. But let’s assume he’s looking down,” President Trump joked.
“You brought me down in a way you can never imagine,” Dingell responded on Twitter.
The president characterized the impeachment as Democrats’ attempt to undo the results of the 2016 election.
“They think the Washington swamp should be able to veto the results of an election, that’s what they think,” he told the crowd, going on to tout his victories while in office.
“As of yesterday we’ve had 133 record days in the stock market now. Is there a better place in the world to be than a Trump rally?”
Dingell called the impeachment a “somber day,” echoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s remark that she was “solemnly and sadly” opening the vote. Pelosi and other female congresswomen wore black or dark colors to the debate.
Despite the claims of somberness, some Democrats were jubilant. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) streamed herself on social media moments before entering the floor prior to the vote, in footage that shows her smiling and enthused over the prospect of impeaching President Trump.
This what the Dems meant that they're 'not happy and they are broken' that they had to impeach the president. pic.twitter.com/99nhYuMHoz
— Joel Fischer (@JFNYC1) December 19, 2019
With the president officially impeached, the Constitution stipulates that it is now up to the Senate, which currently has a Republican majority, to either remove him from office or acquit him.
On Wednesday, however, Pelosi would not say when she plans to send the impeachment articles to the Senate.
“We’ll make that decision as a group, as we always have, as we go along,” she told reporters after the vote, adding that “So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us.”
This could potentially be part of a bid by Democrats to gain leverage over the Senate and force them to make impeachment trial rules that favor their anti-Trump agenda.
The Constitution, however, clearly states that “The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.”
That means Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) can summon Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, convene the trial over Democrats’ objections, and vote to dismiss the charges or acquit the president.
The call is now Republicans’ to make, and their decision is unlikely to be one Democrats will be satisfied with.
