Democrats spent most of President Trump’s first term investigating him and his allies. But after Trump’s impeachment trial acquittal last February, it’s barely an issue on the campaign trail for his rivals.
Using the impeachment as a means to fire up the Democratic base in 2018 to help the party win the House majority, Democrats presently find that the issue is not a winner to campaign on in the 2020 election.
Trump was impeached by House Democrats last December. And long before that, since retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was relieved of his national security adviser post in February 2017, related to conversations he had with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition period, it was believed that Trump’s impeachment would be front and center of the 2020 presidential election cycle.
Other than two Democrats, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, who voted against both articles of impeachment, each House Democrat voted in favor to impeach the president. Van Drew later switched parties and became a Republican.
“I think it’s because impeachment already happened, and it depends on the reelection on each individual member. But personally, I was and am supportive of our decision to impeach the president,” New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told the Washington Examiner. “I don’t campaign on the president. Actually, when I’m in my district, I campaigned on the issues and our accomplishments and what we’re fighting for.”
Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who made a splash as a new member when she said in January 2019 that Democrats were going to “impeach the motherf—er” told the Washington Examiner she wasn’t sure why her party wasn’t campaigning on Trump’s impeachment now.
“I just know in my district, they’re working really hard to hold this administration accountable on the census and the Postal Service as well,” she said.
Around 30 first-term Democratic members who flipped Republican seats in 2018 in districts Trump won slow-walked their announcements over the months during the impeachment hearings as to how they would ultimately vote on the final articles until early December or the day of the vote.
Following Trump’s acquittal in the Senate, the White House and Republicans looked forward to moving on from the hectic daily impeachment grind and talk about the healthy status of the economy instead, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats reminded Republicans that Trump is “impeached forever.”
“He just got impeached. He’ll be impeached forever. No matter what the Senate does. He’s impeached forever because he violated our Constitution,” she said.
However, by early spring, the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality in the United States, and Democrats refocused their messaging to the president’s response on the virus, ranging from state-by-state lockdowns to the availability of everyday resources, personal protective equipment, skyrocketing unemployment, and the development of a treatment or vaccine.
At the same time, key information was released about the FBI investigation into Flynn scrutinizing the search itself, prompting the Justice Department to drop its case against the former White House official. The DOJ’s motion for a dismissal is set for a hearing at the end of September.
Democrats argue that the COVID-19 issue is far more pressing to talk about and campaign on now than Trump’s impeachment.
“There are stronger issues to talk about for voters right now. If the only thing they worry about is really COVID-19, we’re meeting them where the voters are,” said Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego.
“I think people are very focused on the president’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in 200,000 Americans dying. He still doesn’t have a testing regime in place. And so, I think, you know, we’re focused on the issues that are most concerning to our constituents,” Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, the chairman of the House Democratic policy and communications team, told the Washington Examiner. “Right now, the president obviously was already impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and I think the American people know that.”
Republicans, though, are not talking about Trump’s impeachment much either, other than saying every so often that it was a “corrupt” or “illegal” process the Democrats engaged in. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, says Republicans should bring it up more in that context on the campaign trail in certain races.
“I think that the impeachment was an absolute fiasco for the other side, and I think the last thing like they want to do is remind people that they were engaged in that,” he said. “I’m not sure why Republicans aren’t really talking about it. If they’ve got somebody who voted for impeachment, I think it probably should be brought up — especially in a swing district.”
