The editorial board of the largest newspaper in the key 2020 state of Pennsylvania endorsed President Trump’s impeachment.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board stated in a Thursday editorial that it is the paper’s position that Trump needs to be impeached. House Democrats filed two articles of impeachment against the president over his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which Trump requested that Ukraine investigate Joe Biden.
Democrats allege that Trump withheld military aid in exchange for his own personal, political benefit. He’s being impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
In its editorial, the Philadelphia Inquirer condemned Trump for mocking the impeachment effort by Democrats.
The paper wrote, “Since taking office as president in 2017, Donald Trump has used the unfiltered power of social media to broadcast his daily disdain and mockery of rivals, and to promote his version of the truth. That he has continued this mockery to the impeachment process — the most serious action Congress can initiate beyond a declaration of war — is of grave concern.”
Trump has brushed off impeachment as a purely political endeavor and called the two articles “impeachment lite” because he sees the evidence provided by House Democrats as “flimsy.”
The editorial board reviewed the two articles and said evidence of obstruction of justice “should have us all frightened.” They noted that Trump had tried to cover-up his misconduct and expressed concern that he may refuse to leave office if the Senate voted to remove him, even though that is unlikely.
“In defying these orders, and through his continued ridicule of the impeachment process and the members of Congress who initiated it, Trump has severely disrespected his office and the document he swore to protect and uphold,” they wrote. “Should this process end with a trial and a Senate vote to remove him from office — a prospect that seems highly unlikely — it’s not hard to imagine that he would insist that the process was invalid and refuse to go.”
They added, “Such an act of tyranny is what the Constitution was created to protect against. That is why this impeachment process is urgent and should move forward without delay.”
The board urged Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew to vote for impeachment. Van Drew was one of just two Democrats to vote against the impeachment effort in the first floor vote. Fitzpatrick has voted against the Republican Party in the past, but no Republicans have signaled that they will support impeachment.
“All eyes should be on two local lawmakers, Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat from New Jersey who voted against an impeachment inquiry, and Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican who has shown a propensity for challenging the party line,” they wrote. “Both need to step up on the impeachment vote – if not to punish abuse of power, then to affirm Congress’ standing as a coequal branch of government.”
Pennsylvania was one of the deciding states in the 2016 election, and Trump will likely need to win the state again if he hopes to be reelected in 2020.
