Mitch McConnell Talks Down Biden Impeachment - Demonstrates That the Uniparty Is Alive and Well

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

As more and more evidence comes to light about first son Hunter Biden’s overseas business deals and the alleged involvement of President Joe Biden, the calls for impeachment proceedings have begun to grow louder. But with the expected push for impeachment from most House Republicans and the downplaying of the entire situation by House Democrats comes another call from the party an increasing number of average Americans believe exists. It is made up of friendly Republicans and Democrats — the Washington D.C. “uniparty.” The face of the uniparty, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). On Tuesday, McConnell attempted to play elder statesman, and issued a warning to his House GOP colleagues about moving forward with any impeachment preliminaries, saying that it was “not good for the country.”

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In a recent interview with the New York Times, McConnell said of impeachment:

I said two years ago, when we had not one but two impeachments, that once we go down this path it incentivizes the other side to do the same thing. Impeachment ought to be rare. This is not good for the country.

McConnell is right. Impeachment should be rare. Seen as a last resort as a means of reining in a rogue president or one found guilty of any of the enumerated crimes expressly laid out in the Constitution as calling for impeachment. What he failed to mention is that out of a pathological hatred for one man and a severe case of being sore losers, McConnell’s Democrat friends in the House and Senate opened the impeachment-no-longer-being-a-rarity can of worms, especially for former President Donald Trump. And because Democrats have a hard time seeing the long-term consequences of their actions, impeachment may no longer have the sting the Founding Fathers intended.

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Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) said to Fox News Channel’s Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday morning that while, ultimately, the decision to start the process was House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s, “It is long past time to start the impeachment process.” But now, Democrats are suddenly concerned about too many penalties like censure and impeachment being meted out. Former House member and now Democrat strategist Steve Israel said to the New York Times, “I think it further deteriorates everyone’s faith in the institution. Everything becomes political theater.” Then there was the squishy Republican, even uniparty response from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who said, “I don’t think it is a healthy sign for us to be resorting to the ultimate weapon. But democracy is messy, and we are demonstrating that every day.”

Mitch McConnell’s latest statement on impeachment illustrates an interesting relationship he has with the process itself. There was no love lost between McConnell and Donald Trump. Of Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, McConnell said he was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it.” But McConnell voted to acquit Trump in his second impeachment trial. McConnell and Trump are not besties — that has been established. But could there be something else behind McConnell’s warning to House GOP members to cool impeachment talk? Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden go way back to their time as Senate colleagues. Like his buddy Joe, McConnell is no fan of MAGA Republicans. Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden could be useful enemies to each other to keep those MAGA Republicans at bay — from getting in the way of Biden’s proposals and McConnell’s desire to keep electing establishment-style Republicans who will fall in line behind him. McConnell also knows that those establishment Republicans are no longer popular with voters. With a Democrat-controlled Senate, an impeachment conviction would be unlikely, and McConnell’s warning to GOP House members, many of whom have already endorsed Trump for 2024, could be a conveniently timed nose-thumbing.

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Kevin McCarthy has stated a decision on an impeachment inquiry has not been made and that evidence is still being gathered. Should an impeachment go forward, it will be interesting to see which side Mitch McConnell ends up on, Republicans, Democrats, or uniparty.

 

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