Last week’s impeachment hearings were devastating for Trump. Witness after witness testified to his scheme to extort the Ukrainian president to do his political bidding by “investigating” a company named Burisma and “the 2016 election.”
We all know now, as some of the witnesses made clear, Burisma is codeword for the Bidens and “the 2016 election” means the debunked conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine, no Russia, that meddled in our 2016 elections.
And yet not one single Republican member of Congress (53 in the Senate; 197 in the House) has come out in support of Trump’s impeachment.
The closest we’ve come are a few timid souls who have stated that while what Trump did was wrong, it does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense.
The most notable Republican to hold this view is Rep. Will Hurd, a so-called moderate from Texas who is not running for reelection.
Said Hurd:
“An impeachable offense should be compelling, overwhelmingly clear and unambiguous, and it is not something to be rushed or taken lightly. I have not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion. I also reject the notion that holding this view means supporting all of the foreign policy choices we have been hearing about over these last few weeks.”
With someone like Hurd, who many called one of the most likely Republicans to break ranks to vote for impeachment, holding firm, the prospect of any Republican doing what their oath of office compels them to do is very unlikely.
Just look at the lengths to which some Republicans have gone to defend Trump and his conspiracy theory about “the 2016 election.”
When Chris Wallace of Fox News today asked Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, “Who do you believe was responsible for the hacking of the DNC and Clinton campaign computers, their emails – was it Russia or Ukraine?” Kennedy gave the absurd and delusional answer, “I don’t know. Nor do you. Nor do any of us.”
The wagons have been circled. For Republicans, it’s defend Trump no matter the costs … to our country, to our Constitution, and to our dignity.
What’s so alarming is this lockstep support for Trump just might work. In a recent poll of independents, after the House hearings, support for impeachment has actually declined
Photo | businessinsider.com
