Fox News host Chris Wallace chided former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for calling the current impeachment effort against President Trump “unconstitutional.”
Wallace appeared on America’s Newsroom with host Sandra Smith on Friday to react to Gingrich’s comments from earlier on the show. Gingrich had called House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry unconstitutional and said the “coup” against Trump would backfire.
“Nancy Pelosi is simply carrying out what is an unconstitutional coup d’etat in effort to use the power of the Congress to change the outcome for the American people,” Gingrich said. “I think it’ll backfire very badly.”
Wallace suggested that Gingrich was acting hypocritically because he took part in the impeachment investigation into President Bill Clinton when he controlled the House in 1998.
“I am a little surprised at Speaker Gingrich, who I greatly respect. This is the exact opposite of unconstitutional,” Wallace said. “The Constitution specifically says that impeachment is left to Congress with very little statement as to how they want to conduct it.
“In fact, I think I remember that Newt Gingrich led an impeachment effort against Bill Clinton in 1998. Was that an effort to overturn an election? No, he was investigating stuff,” Wallace continued. “To call it unconstitutional or an effort to overturn an election, that’s kind of a reach.”
[Also read: Democrats have abandoned bipartisan format of Clinton impeachment]
