The impeachment of Donald Trump has now moved from the House Intelligence Committee to the House Judiciary Committee. And with that the legal arguments for the constitutional grounds for impeachment are coming to the forefront of the public discourse. A panel of law professors are the first witnesses to appear before this committee. But Trump has his own laughably obtuse ideas on the matter.
Trump held several press avails with foreign leaders during his trip to London for the NATO summit. In each of them he managed to deliver blatantly political screeds that exalted himself and maligned his critics. But on one occasion he offered his opinion of the report written at the conclusion of the House impeachment hearings. Not surprising, he was less than impressed. He had the following exchange with a reporter (video below):
REPORTER: Do you want to comment on the House Democrats impeachment report that came out last night and the hearing today?
TRUMP: Well, I saw it and it’s a joke. Everybody is saying it. I watched reviews. I watched Sean Hannity. I watched Laura Ingraham. I watched Tucker Carlson. I watched a lot of other legal scholars.
REALLY? So now Trump is passing off right-wing hacks on Fox News as the “legal scholars” he relies on to shape his views of impeachment. That’s even worse than his actual lawyers (i.e. Rudy Giuliani) and the other TV attorneys that he depends on for advice. And he’s admitting to watching an awful lot of TV while he’s at this international summit. He went on to site his longtime friend Alan Dershowitz and the Bill Clinton special prosecutor, Ken Starr, as additional sources of his legal opinions.
For some reason Trump failed to note that Fox News’ Senior Legal Analyst, Andrew Napolitano, concluded that the evidence of Trump’s impeachable behavior is overwhelming. He also left out the commentaries by Napolitano and staunch pro-Trump sycophant Andrew McCarthy, who both disputed the anti-impeachment arguments of committee witness Jonathan Turley. However, Trump did go on to repeat some of his recent lies relating to his popularity:
“I will tell you it’s a uniform statement pretty much right down the road. What they’re doing is a bad thing for the country. It’s of no merit. And the Republican Party has never been more unified, ever. They have never been as unified as they are right now.
“I’ve never seen anything like it where you have 197-0 where the Senate is very angry about it. I think the Senate I can say is angry. The Republican Party is angry. A recent poll came out 95% approval rating for me in the Republican Party which is a record. “
“197-0?” There are only 100 senators and about half of them are Democrats. And never mind that it is entirely irrelevant whether the Republican Party is unified. They are expected to be united in defense of their president. That doesn’t have any bearing on his guilt. And more to the point, Trump’s assertions as to the unity of the GOP being uniformly in favor of Trump is simply false. He has never been able to provide a source for 95% approval, but a recent poll put the number at 74%. And majorities of the American people are solidly in favor of impeaching Trump and removing him from office.
Trump is living in a fantasy world where he is beloved by all and everyone agrees with him on everything. The truth is that he is the most unpopular president in modern times who has never even hit 50% approval. And it’s downright pathetic that he has to resort to partisan hacks like Hannity to justify his delusions on the legality of impeachment. He might as well be citing Lionel Hutz.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
TRUMP on House Dems' impeachment report: "I saw it & it's a joke. Everybody is saying it. And I watched reviews. I watched Sean Hannity, I watched Laura Ingraham, I watched Tucker Carlson, I watched a lot of other legal scholars, frankly … Alan Dershowitz, & many more" ? pic.twitter.com/7uTE87BDYH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 4, 2019
Media Matters called the GOP’s own impeachment report “like an extended Sean Hannity episode.”
House GOP’s impeachment “report” just a recitation of Fox talking points
So, when Seanny bytched about the impeachment report on Twitter, I asked him whether he meant the Ministry of Truth’s report and why he was complaining about His Beloved God’s own interpretation. Didn’t get an answer, of course, but then, it’s not like we expected one.
After all, we’re still waiting for Seanny to get his fat a$$ waterboarded “for the troops’ families.” In case anyone cares, it’s now been 10 years, 7 months, 13 days since he lied to Charles Grodin and proved he has no credibility whatsoever. And we’re still counting….
The fake legal scholars Trumpenstein aren’t even legitimate news reporters. Fake scholars, fake reporters, fake president! They look better when portrayed on Saturday Night Live.
The 1 thing that Trump got right is that the Rethuglican Party is “unified”.
Yep! They are indeed, 100% unified/united… FOR Trump & AGAINST us, Our Constitution, Democracy & against the US of A!!
ALL the Rethugs should be run out of office ~ better yet, run them out of the U.S., since they have no love, nor respect for this Country, as evidenced by their 100% unified defense & support for Trump!
There are 2 sides in this internal battle for American Democracy & Freedom — you can only be on 1 side OR the other: It’s either Trump’s side, OR, the United States of America & its Constitutional rule of law.
They are opposing sides. In a war for survival. I didn’t create this division. It just it what it is. One cannot claim to be neutral. There will come a time when people look back & will clearly see what some see already. But, by then it will be far too late to do anything but lament.