2020 Democrat Andrew Yang conceded that “there’s a chance” the House Democrats’ impeachment proceedings could “hurt” the party’s next nominee for president.
Joining CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, Yang, who supports impeachment, faced questions about how the process against President Trump could affect the eventual Democratic presidential nominee.
“The downsides of that, the entire country get engrossed in this impeachment process,” he said. “And then, we’re gonna look up and be facing Donald Trump in the general election and we will not have made a real case to the American people.”
“Is it going to hurt the Democratic nominee?” guest host Dana Bash asked.
“There’s a chance that it will,” Yang responded, pointing out that several of his fellow candidates would be called back to Washington, D.C., in January if the process made it to the Senate, “which would definitely take their focus away from the campaign.”
However, he assured Bash that it wouldn’t affect his efforts to secure the nomination.
“I would be right here in Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina or Nevada or somewhere else campaigning,” he added.
The House formally approved the impeachment proceedings, which stemmed from Trump’s July phone call with the president of Ukraine, on Thursday down party lines. If the process reaches the Republican-controlled Senate, many 2020 Democrats may be required to take a break from the campaign trail in order to be present for the Senate trial, including Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Elizabeth Warren Massachusetts, Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Yang is currently polling in fifth place in the Democratic primary with around 2.7% support, according to RealClearPolitics.
