President Donald Trump clearly had the recent anonymous op-ed published in The New York Times on his mind during his Montana rally to support Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, who's challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, as warned supporters if he was impeached, "it's your fault, 'cause you didn't go out to vote," according to CNN.
Trump also took time to rail against those Democrats, such as Rep. Maxine Waters of California, who have spoken out in support of impeachment.
"This election, you aren't just voting for a candidate, you are voting for which party controls Congress," Trump said. "Very important thing. Very important thing."
The op-ed combined with reports of subterfuge in journalist Bob Woodward's new book paint the Trump administration as one where every official distrusts those standing next to them and is actively working against Trump's agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared on the conservative radio show hosted by Hugh Hewitt on Friday morning and was asked if Trump could be indicted.
McConnell said the Justice Department "has taken the position ... that the appropriate remedy for presidential misbehavior is impeachment," though he added that he is "not an expert on this."
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a potential 2020 candidate for the Democrats, said it was time to remove Trump from office in the wake of the op-ed and Woodward's reports on Thursday.
"If senior administration officials think the President of the United States is not able to do his job, then they should invoke the 25th Amendment," Warren told CNN.
Democrats have been working to succeed in the upcoming November midterm elections to resume control of the House of Representatives and potentially the Senate, though Trump's impeachment has not been a central issue for many campaigns.
During Thursday's rally, Trump derided the idea of impeachment.
"I'll be the only President in history they'll say: 'What a job he's done! By the way, we're impeaching him,'" Trump said.
"They like to use the 'impeach' word," Trump said. " 'Impeach Trump.' Maxine Waters: 'We will impeach him.' 'But he didn't do anything wrong.' 'It doesn't matter. We will impeach him. We will impeach.' "
Trump said the economy was good because of his actions, questioning: "But I say, how do you impeach somebody that's doing a great job, that hasn't done anything wrong?"
"'We will impeach him!'" Trump shouted, "'But he's doing a great job!' 'Doesn't matter.' Remember that line, 'He's doing a great job.' That doesn't matter. We'll impeach him.'"
Trump claimed the United States would turn into a "third world country" due to a future impeachment.
"But let's say a Democrat gets elected, and let's say we have a Republican House. We will impeach that Democrat, right? And then a Republican. We won by a lot. We won by a hell of a margin," Trump said.
"If the opposite party becomes president, every time before it even starts, before you've even found out whether or not he or she is going to do a great job, they'll say, 'We want to impeach him' and you'll impeach him," Trump said. "It's so ridiculous."
-WN.com, Maureen Foody
Photo:
AP / Susan Walsh
