During the first hours of House debate over articles of impeachment, Rep. Jim Clyburn pulled no punches. The South Carolina Democrat and majority whip waxed poetic in his speech, railing against President Trump and in support of impeachment.
He said that Congress’s duty is to defend the country “against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” In this, Clyburn is completely correct. But he then proceeded to essentially say that to fulfill this duty, Congress must vote to impeach Trump. The implication is that Trump is a “domestic enemy.”
This is a wild overstatement. You can certainly argue that Trump’s slow-walking of Ukrainian foreign aid was improper, impeachable, and even unlawful. But to suggest that Trump is an enemy of the people is transparently ludicrous and insults the intelligence of viewers. Even if you disagree with Trump on everything, he certainly is not an enemy to the country or a literal traitor.
Just like when Republicans call impeachment a “coup,” overheated and overblown rhetoric undermines the credibility of elected officials involved in this debate. And such an extreme statement as calling the president a literal enemy of the country, coming from a member of Democratic leadership, reveals just how much this entire impeachment campaign is driven by their party’s undiluted hatred for the president, and not from any concern for the rule of law.
