Trump Told Confidants He Would ‘Play Victim Card,’ Run In 2020 If Impeached, ‘Axios’ Reports
President Donald Trump is starting to acknowledge the growing chance that Democrats could win in this fall’s midterms, and he is already developing a strategy in case of impeachment without removal, Axios reports.
As Vox reported today, three new polls indicate that Democrats could flip the House in November. With less than two months until election day, and with three separate, generic ballot polls (Quinnipiac University, NPR/Marist College, Politico/Morning Consult) showing that voters favor Democrats, talks of Donald Trump’s impeachment are ramping up.
According to Axios‘ White House sources, President Trump is well aware of the fact that the Democratic Party could take over the House. If they manage to flip it, his impeachment would most certainly be on agenda. Trump’s advisers have reportedly warned the POTUS of what November midterms could bring, so he is starting to develop a strategy to soften the blow of impeachment.
Trump is now reportedly sharpening his campaign rhetoric, shifting into “salvation” mode, contemplating the reality of impeachment, and telling confidants that he would run for re-election in 2020 playing the “victim card.”
“He has repeated to folks that, if the Democrats impeach him, it would be a victory, politically, because it would be a complete overreach and he could exploit it and run against it in 2020,” a source told Axios.
This is a significant development inside the Trump administration, considering the fact that the POTUS used to scoff at midterm consequences for his presidency.
While some of the president’s advisers, Axios‘ source said, tried “to make the case that control of the House didn’t matter,” Trump has realized that it could “make all the difference in the world,” not only in the context of his impeachment but also in relation to Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference.
Trump starting to realize he might get impeached https://t.co/LmdJiIX71M
— Raw Story (@RawStory) September 12, 2018
As the Inquisitr reported, during a fiery rally speech last week, President Trump addressed the threat of impeachment, warning supporters to vote in midterms. His removal from the highest office in the land, Trump suggested, would jeopardize democracy in the United States, turning it into a “third-world country.”
“If it (impeachment) does happen, it’s your fault, because you didn’t go out to vote,” the president warned his supporters.
Politico argued late August that Paul Manafort’s guilty verdict and Michael Cohen’s guilty plea are intensifying talks of impeachment, but also observed that Trump is deliberately addressing the prospect of impeachment in an effort to encourage his base to vote in the midterms.
Latest statements from Axios‘ White House source point to the same conclusion: Trump is starting to realize the full scope of a potential Democratic takeover of the House.
