Trump slams House impeachment vote as ‘most ridiculous project’
President Trump on Wednesday declared that a House vote to kill articles of impeachment against him should be the “end of it,” calling it “the most ridiculous project.”
Trump assailed the measure, brought to the floor by Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), shortly after landing in North Carolina, where he is set to hold a campaign rally Wednesday night. He claimed the effort to impeach him is “over,” and suggested no other president should have to face such a vote.
“We’ve just received an overwhelming vote against impeachment, and that’s the end of it,” Trump said. “It’s time to get back to work.”{mosads}
In a pair of tweets issued around the same time, Trump called impeachment “perhaps the most ridiculous and time consuming project I have ever had to work on.”
He declared impeachment “is now over.”
“This should never be allowed to happen to another President of the United States again!” Trump tweeted.
The United States House of Representatives has just overwhelmingly voted to kill the Resolution on Impeachment, 332-95-1. This is perhaps the most ridiculous and time consuming project I have ever had to work on. Impeachment of your President, who has led the….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 17, 2019
The House voted 332-95 to kill the first articles of impeachment brought forward under the new Democratic majority. While a majority of Democrats voted to table to the measure, nearly 100 lawmakers voted in favor of the effort, underscoring the divide within the party over how to approach the issue.
Trump remarked on the “lopsided” vote total during opening remarks at his North Carolina rally, and thanked Democrats who voted to table the measure.
Green filed the measure late Tuesday immediately after the House voted to condemn Trump’s recent tweets targeting four progressive congresswomen as “racist.” The Texas Democrat has previously accused Trump of inflaming racial tensions.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) moved to table Green’s resolution, rather than Democratic leaders formally offering the motion themselves to cast the effort aside.
It’s the first time the Democratic House has been confronted with a vote on impeachment, and comes a week before former special counsel Robert Mueller is set to testify before two committees on Capitol Hill.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has sought to keep a tight hold over talk of impeachment, arguing that it would be too divisive without buy-in from Republican lawmakers. To date, 84 Democrats and one Independent lawmaker have publicly said they support opening an impeachment inquiry.
While Wednesday’s vote failed, another lawmaker could bring new articles that prompt the House to formally launch impeachment proceedings.
Mueller’s testimony next week is likely to stir further debate over impeachment. Several Democrats joined the chorus of those favoring impeachment after the release of Mueller’s report, which did not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, and neither exonerated nor implicated the president on obstruction of justice charges.
Trump has typically downplayed the specter of impeachment, arguing the people would “revolt” and suggesting that lawmakers might be reluctant to remove him because of how it could harm the economy.
–Updated at 7:11 p.m.
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