Seven House Democratic freshman in swing districts came out for an impeachment inquiry of President Trump, pushing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to support the action.
But several Democrats in red districts that Trump won in 2016 are not supporting an impeachment inquiry triggered by Trump’s July phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The American people are absolutely disgusted with our politics to the point it’s assumed that corrupt behavior is so widespread that it’s part of the process — not something that can ever be erased. It’s assumed that Republicans and Democrats will always put winning ahead of the country,” New York Democratic Rep. Max Rose said in a statement.
“And it’s now assumed that it doesn’t matter who’s in the White House, the opposing party will try to impeach them. That there is such a lack of trust is a damning indictment of both parties and why I ran for office in the first place. It’s also why I have opposed a partisan impeachment process that would only deepen those divisions, not solve them,” Rose added.
The New York Democrat gave himself wiggle room, however, arguing that a president “attempting to blackmail a foreign government into targeting American citizens is not just another example of scorched earth politics.” He added, “It would be an invitation to the enemies of the United States to come after any citizen so long as they happen to disagree with the president.”
Rose, whose district was previously represented by Republican Rep. Dan Donovan, won his seat in 2018 with 53% of the vote, besting Donovan by 7%. The district, however, voted for Trump in 2016 by a margin of 9.8 points over Hillary Clinton while New York state went for Clinton by 22.5 points.
He said that despite the move toward impeachment and his disagreement with his fellow Democrats on the matter, he will win reelection overwhelmingly in 2020.
“All I can tell you I’m going to win by an exceedingly high margin. I’m going to win this district based off my values my issues my statements my propositions,” Rose declared to the Washington Examiner.
Other Democrats in Trump won districts would not say directly they opposed impeachment — instead making no mention of it in their statements about the whistleblower claims related to the phone conversation.
Democrats like New York Rep. Anthony Brindisi, and New Mexico Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, excoriated Trump in their statements about the whistleblower’s claims while omitting the impeachment issue all together. Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden called for the release of the whistleblower’s report on Trump but stopped short of calling for an impeachment inquiry.
When approached by the Washington Examiner, Torres Small refused to directly say if she opposed or supported an impeachment inquiry of the president. Oklahoma Democratic Rep. Kendra Horn called for unity and did not mention impeachment.
“It is time we find a bipartisan path to bring people together and get to the truth in an honest and methodical manner,” Horn said. “To do that, we need all of the facts. This should be a detailed and responsible investigation and not one conducted in a media circus. Americans are tired of finger pointing. We should do the job we were sent here to do.”
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Connor Lamb, told the Pittsburgh Post Gazette he would withhold any support for an impeachment inquiry until more evidence was released. “We need to get the full text of the whistleblower complaint by Thursday, not just the transcript of one phone call,” Lamb said in a statement. “It appears that we will learn more facts in the coming days, and I’ll have more to say after that,” he added.
Democrats supporting the impeachment inquiry of the president say those in their caucus concerned about their reelection prospects over supporting impeachment of the president should do the “right thing” and not always make decisions based the ballot box.
“When you take that oath you do actually have to look in the mirror sometimes and ask yourself the question well what did I do in this moment when the security of the country was put at risk,” Michigan Democratic Rep. Dan Kildee said of members in red districts who are not supporting an impeachment inquiry. “And I think it is overly cynical to think that it’s always going to be about the electoral implications.”
