Donald Trump likes his chances of re-election in 2020 — and even more so if Democrats decide to launch impeachment proceedings against him.
Trump said in an interview this week that he thinks an attempt by congressional Democrats to impeach him could only help his chances of winning his re-election bid, saying it would be “good politics” for him. The Meet the Press interview showed that Trump is apparently hopeful that Democrats will try to impeach.
“I think I win the election easier,” Trump said, via The Hill . “But, you know, I’m not sure that I like having it.”
Trump has said frequently that Democrats launch an impeachment against him at their own peril, predicting that it will be a boost to him politically and could send the U.S. economy crashing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hesitant to move forward on hearings, saying that she does not want to move forward without strong support from Republicans and the backing of the American public. In his interview, Trump said he believes Pelosi “feels that I will win much easier” if the impeachment hearings begin.
Other Democrats have been more anxious to start impeachment proceedings against Trump, including many of the candidates for the Democratic Party nomination in 2020. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has openly called for Trump to be impeached, citing the several instances of obstruction of justice outlined in the final Russia report.
As The Hill noted, there are now 73 Democrats and one Republican who have openly expressed support for an impeachment inquiry.
The momentum builds. We are up to 70 Ds and 1 R who are not afraid. Ds snd Rs who oppose impeachment are not only cowards but complicit. It’s time.
Pro-impeachment ranks grow as Pelosi remains unmoved https://t.co/ic1X778Tbd via @politico
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) June 21, 2019
But it is not clear if it will move forward. The American public has remained hesitant on the idea of impeachment, with a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showing that 27 percent of Americans believe there is enough evidence to move forward now on impeachment hearings. While that is up 10 points from the previous poll, the overall number remains relatively low.
It is not clear how impeachment proceedings could affect Donald Trump’s chances of re-election, but there are signs that he could have an uphill battle in 2020. A series of polls have shown that Trump is struggling in key battleground states and even some that are traditionally red. Earlier this month, a Quinnipiac University poll showed that Trump was trailing Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden in Texas by four points — 48 percent to 44 percent — in a general election matchup. Trump has trailed other top Democrats in states he won in 2016 that he would likely need again in order to win, including Michigan and Pennsylvania.
