By Christina Zhao
Senior news editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Fox News host Chris Wallace criticized Democratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries during a Sunday interview over the lack of bipartisan support in recent national polls for the House-led impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
The public phase of the formal impeachment inquiry, launched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in late September, recently came to a close. Following the hearings, two new polls showed that the revelations did little to progress voter support for impeaching Trump and removing him from office.
During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Jeffries, a New York lawmaker, reiterated to Wallace that the House decided to launch an impeachment inquiry because the "president decided to pressure [a] foreign government to target an American citizen for political gain, and at the same time withhold $391 million in military aid from a very vulnerable Ukraine."
Read More
Republican Congressman Calls Trump Impeachment Inquiry ‘a Complete American Waste of Time’3 min read
Sarah Huckabee Sanders Says She’s Not Surprised’ by Independent Voters’ Declining Support on Impeachment, Calls Proceedings a ‘Sham’3 min read
Trump GOP Challenger Says Republican Voters Tell Him ‘They’re Tired’ of President and ‘Sick of His Lies’3 min read
"We do have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on a potentially out-of-control executive branch," he said. "The founders didn't want a king, they didn't want a dictator, they didn't want a monarch, they wanted a democracy so we have a responsibility to defend our democracy."
"But congressman, Democrats have been making that case—you've been making your best case to the public for two months now," Wallace responded. "You just finished 30 hours of televised hearings, 12 witnesses, and the public apparently isn't buying it at this point."
"It's clear that there is none of the bipartisan support that Speaker Pelosi said for months was essential to impeachment," Wallace said.
"Our job is to follow the facts, apply the law, be guided by the U.S. Constitution and present the truth to the American people no matter where it leads," Jeffries replied, "because no one is above the law. That's what we have been doing, that's what we are doing."
A recent Politico/Morning Consult poll, conducted in the days after the second week of witness testimonies before the House Intelligence Committee, found that half of U.S. adults supported impeachment. The figure represents a mere two percent increase since the same survey was conducted after the first round of hearings. During the second week of public hearings, EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland and vice presidential aide Jennifer Williams rebuked some of Trump's key defenses of his dealings with Ukraine.
CNN's latest impeachment polls showed similar findings. According to the network's survey, 50 percent of American adults backed the president's impeachment and removal from office, while 43 percent did not. CNN's poll was also conducted in the days following the second week of public testimonies.
...
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines