House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced on Wednesday night to stop House Democrats from cheering their purely partisan impeachment of President Donald Trump following the vote as reports also surfaced that House members were taking selfies.
“Article one is adopted,” Pelosi said.
Immediately after she pounded her gavel, clapping broke out on the Democrats’ side, which prompted a death stare from Pelosi.
WATCH:
Nancy Pelosi forced to silence impeachment cheers from self-proclaimed “solemn” and “prayerful” Democrats pic.twitter.com/8khCTikx6C
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 19, 2019
Politico Congressional bureau chief John Bresnahan observed, “Members taking selfies during impeachment vote.”
Members taking selfies during impeachment vote
— John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico) December 19, 2019
Democrats’ apparent glee over impeachment comes after they voted for the first time in U.S. history to impeach a president on a purely partisan basis, as only Democrats supported the effort.
The Daily Wire reported the results of the Democrats’ partisan impeachment of the president:
On the first article of impeachment, “abuse of power,” Democrats voted 228–2, Republicans voted 0–195, and the one independent member of Congress voted for impeachment.
The final vote on the first article of impeachment was 230–197–1.
The vote on the second article of impeachment, “obstruction of Congress,” concluded with even more Democrats defecting from their party and voting against impeachment.
The final vote on the second article of impeachment is Democrats voted 228–3, Republicans voted 0–195, and the one independent member of Congress voted for impeachment.
The final vote on the second article of impeachment was 229–198–1.
However, there was a bipartisan effort that opposed impeachment, as all Republicans voted against it, multiple Democrats voted against it, and Democrat presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard voted “present.”
Gabbard, according to Fox News political reporter Chad Pergram, said, “I could not in good conscience vote for impeachment because removal of a sitting President must not be the culmination of a partisan process, fueled by tribal animosities that have so gravely divided our country.”
On the floor of the House, Pelosi said, “That is why today as speaker of the House, I solemnly and sadly open the debate on the impeachment of the president of the United States.”
“One of Pelosi’s colleagues also told CNN that several female Democrats intentionally wore all black in order to gesture that the day of the impeachment vote was a somber one,” Fox News reported. “Pelosi, along with Democrat Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from New York, Donna Shalala from Florida, Robin Kelly from Illinois and Suzanne Bonamici from Oregon were all seen Wednesday wearing dark outfits. On top of Pelosi’s black dress was a golden pin of the Mace of the Republic — a symbol of the House of Representatives’ authority.”
Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told reporters on Wednesday: “Well I think one of the things that our caucus has consistently said is that today is a solemn day for our country. (We) laid out over several months what the president has done to essentially extort foreign governments to betray our nation and enrich himself. So today isn’t a day of celebration, but I think it is a day of resolve and a day that we’re upholding our oath and our constitutional duty.”
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