Senate Republicans are warning President Trump that he risks bungling impeachment politically and alienating voters, even as he survives a Senate trial, without a focused strategy prosecuted by competent political professionals.
With House Democrats expected to approve articles of impeachment by Christmas, Senate Republicans are bracing for the trial, and they are imploring Trump to appreciate the gravity of the situation and prepare. Angry tweets and belligerent news conferences are not sufficient.
The president is not in danger of losing anywhere near enough Republican support to be removed from office. But without an effective defense against the Democrats’ charges on the Senate floor, voters might conclude impeachment was justified and oust him in 2020.
“They need to give due diligence to making sure they put up a really strong defense. That’s how you’re going to win the debate in public,” South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune told the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Ted Cruz, as dismissive of the impeachment inquiry as any Republican, is advising the West Wing to take the matter seriously. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi certainly is, the Texan emphasized, and her commitment to seeing the matter through should not be underestimated.
“To defend against [impeachment] is going to take concerted, organized effort focused on the facts,” he said. “I think the White House is working to do that, but there’s still a lot more work to be done.”
Trump insists he did nothing wrong when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate political rival Joe Biden during a telephone conversation that included a request for the delivery of U.S. military aid. This conversation is the focal point of the impeachment inquiry in which Democrats allege an abuse of power.
Republicans share Trump’s frustration with an inquiry that House Democrats are conducting behind closed doors and agree his actions do not warrant impeachment. But amid an ad hoc White House response consisting largely of Trump’s provocative tweets, and after missteps by acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Senate Republicans are convinced the president needs a better strategy and more capable help to carry it out.
Last week, Mulvaney admitted the existence of a quid pro quo related to Ukrainian aid and Trump’s request to Zelensky for an investigation into alleged Ukrainian involvement in undermining the 2016 election. Mulvaney later tried to retract the admission. Combining errors like these with the president’s unorthodox approach to his defense, Senate Republicans’ confidence in the White House, always precarious, has been shaken.
“Once a statement is made, once a tweet is sent out, you can’t recall it,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican up for reelection in 2020. “In this environment, I think the president would be better served if he had people who would help him anticipate some of the misunderstandings and clarify the message.”
