A House Democrat asserted his party would be better off without President Trump’s removal from office because Republicans would jettison Vice President Mike Pence for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
Rep. John Yarmuth said Monday that Trump should be removed from office but it would be a political setback for the Democratic Party if he is.
“I was saying the political consequences of that might not be very good for Democrats because if we remove him from office, I will guarantee you the Republican Party would not nominate Mike Pence to succeed him. They would nominate somebody like Nikki Haley, who would be much more difficult for a Democrat to defeat,” Yarmuth told CNN.
“I don’t think this is about politics and I don’t think we should consider politics, I just think it could be bad politics,” the Kentucky Democrat said.
If Trump is impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate, Pence would become president, per the Constitution, unless he steps down. The Republican Party could then choose to nominate someone else in 2020.
Since Haley resigned from the Trump administration in late 2018, it’s been speculated that she could replace Pence on the 2020 ticket. Haley has denied the rumors, and Trump has insisted he’s sticking with Pence.
