House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has attempted to paint the poorly-polling impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump as “solemn” and “somber,” done out of duty to the Constitution, despite leading Democrats openly admitting that the president must be impeached for political reasons.
Keeping to the appearance, Democrats were reportedly given the instruction to avoid “cheering” and to “keep it solemn” during the impeachment vote on Wednesday.
“House Democratic leaders told caucus members not to cheer or applaud when today’s impeachment vote totals are announced, and Democratic members described the day as sad and solemn,” Axios reported Wednesday.
“One Democratic member from a Trump-won district said the instruction is: ‘Don’t cheer, keep it solemn,'” the report added.
And it went even further than that. Rep. Pelosi and other Democratic women wore black to signal just how “solemn” the occasion of partisan impeachment without an alleged crime actually is.
“Note: [Speaker Pelosi] is wearing black. One of her colleagues told me several of the female Democrats did that intentionally to signal it is a somber day #impeachment,” posted CNN reporter Dana Bash on Wednesday.
Note: @SpeakerPelosi is wearing black. One of her colleagues told me several of the female Democrats did that intentionally to signal it is a somber day #impeachment
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) December 18, 2019
Keeping in character, Pelosi told a reporter the morning of the impeachment vote that she was feeling, “Sad. Very Sad.”
Note: @SpeakerPelosi is wearing black. One of her colleagues told me several of the female Democrats did that intentionally to signal it is a somber day #impeachment
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) December 18, 2019
Adding to the drama, the House Speaker said the Pledge of Allegiance to start off the proceedings on Wednesday, emphasizing the line “to the Republic.”
However, past comments from leading Democrats, including Pelosi strike a far different tone. Here are some of the partisan and telling remarks from Democrats, via The Daily Wire:
Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY): “This is about preventing a potentially disastrous outcome from occurring next year.”
Dina Titus (NV): “I’d like to impeach the bastard right now.”
Adam Schiff (CA): “That charlatan in the White House.”
Nancy Pelosi (CA): “An imposter,” and “We cannot accept a second term for Donald Trump.”
Maxine Waters (CA): “He really should be punished,” and “ I am not running for anything except the impeachment of Trump.”
Rashida Tlaib (MI): “We’re gonna impeach the mother**ker.”
Al Green (TX): “If we don’t impeach this president, he will get reelected.”
As noted by Axios, impeachment support is completely partisan. “The sense is that the cake is baked,” a source close to President Trump’s legal team told the outlet. “The only question is if it’s one or two Democrats or slightly more who vote against.”
“All but one of the 30 remaining Democrats in Trump-won districts (Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey is switching to the GOP) said they’ll vote in favor of both articles of impeachment,” the report noted.
Polling post-impeachment inquiry has been abysmal for Democrats, who continue to move forward with the proceedings. A Monmouth poll released last Tuesday, for example, showed only good news for President Trump.
“The president, fighting off the Democrats’ hyper-partisan efforts to impeach him, received a seven-point swing in his favor concerning the 2020 election. Trump also cleaned up with Independents, polling double-digits higher than any of the Democratic presidential candidates looking to take him out in 2020,” The Daily Wire reported.