'The President Is Dangerous': Minnesota DFL Lawmakers Stand Behind 2nd Impeachment
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota Democrats are lining up behind the single impeachment count introduced Monday.
A vote on impeachment could happen as soon as Wednesday.
Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips, donning a baseball cap, literally waved the American flag Monday in favor of a second impeachment for President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol. He marched in with another congressman with the flag down the same corridor that a protester marched a Confederate flag during the attack.
Phillips, Rep. Angie Craig and other Minnesota Democrats are saying they will vote yes on the single article of impeachment.
"If we have to we will vote for impeachment," Craig said. "My first choice would be to get the president out of office, not let him serve one more day, have Mike Pence finish out this term."
Sen. Tina Smith also hopes President Trump is removed from office before the inauguration.
"I think that the president is dangerous, and I think that he will be dangerous to our public safety and to our national security and to our democracy up until the minute that he leaves office," Smith said.
But Republican Congressman Tom Emmer says he is against the impeachment vote.
"President Trump has said that he is expecting a peaceful transition," Emmer said. "Let's enjoy that peaceful transition and let's turn the page and let's move forward."
Minnesota Republican Congressional Representatives Michelle Fischbach and Jim Hagedorn voted after the violence to still overturn the election. Through a spokesperson, Hagedorn said, "House Democrats simply cannot help themselves with their attempts to further divide the nation."
The votes to impeach Mr. Trump are there in the House, but a trial in the Senate would likely not happen until after he leaves office --something Democrats say they still want to do because that would bar him from running from office again.
The House will vote Tuesday on a resolution asking Vice President Mike Pence to initiate removing the President from office using the 25th Amendment. If Pence does not do that, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the impeachment vote in the House will happen Wednesday.
