Donald Trump’s Ukraine Call Like ‘Running A Stop Sign,’ Says Fox News Guest
In the wake of the House Judiciary Committee approving two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump for his foreign policy relations with Ukraine, Peebles Corporation founder Don Peebles appeared on Fox News to defend the president’s actions, Newsweek reports.
Trump is accused of leveraging foreign aid to pressure Ukraine into investigating Democratic rival Joe Biden, which is the basis of the impeachment article for abuse of presidential power. But according to Peebles, Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not worthy of an impeachment probe.
“I believe what Trump is being accused of is like running a stop sign, and you don’t put someone to death for running a stop sign,” Peebles said.
“Maybe you give him a ticket and give him a summons to show up in court, but you don’t impeach the president for this kind of nonsense.”
Peebles added that impeachment paints Democrats as “sore losers” and suggested that the process would harm Democrats not just in 2020 but in future elections.
“I think anybody who buys into this, especially in these swing districts where Trump was successful the last time around, or where he was close, I think they’re going to be in a lot of trouble,” he said, adding that the process will “hurt the Democratic party.”
Not everyone feels the same way as Peebles. American University history professor Allan Lichtman believes that Trump’s “inevitable” impeachment will only help Democrats in 2020. Lichtman, who is known for correctly predicting the last nine elections, believes that Trump’s impeachment in the house — two articles were approved by the House Judiciary Committee Friday — will decrease his chances of being reelected in 2020.
Here we go.
The #TrumpImpeachment begins. pic.twitter.com/JyTypflg84
— Wajahat S. Khan (@WajSKhan) December 13, 2019
Lichtman pointed to the impeachment proceedings against former President Richard Nixon and said they provided two lessons — that there cannot be a time limit on impeachment, and that one needs to “look at the whole picture” of a president’s record in office. He noted Trump’s purported foreign policy failures in Syria and later suggested that impeaching Trump is a vital part of Democrats winning in 2020.
In an op-ed for Newsweek, California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren said that the impeachment probe into Trump is more severe than those against former president’s Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. She noted Trump’s refusal to comply with Congress, claiming he is the first president in history to do so.
According to Lofgren, impeachment should not be about punishing the president but about protecting future Americans from constitutional violations that could cause damages that would ripple into the future — something she suggests Trump’s actions could do.
