Well, it looks like at least two House Democrats aren’t on the impeachment train. While no Republican representatives voted in favor of the impeachment inquiry, there were two Democrats who dissented. Recently, one of them explained why. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ) sat down with USA Today to discuss, among other topics, the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s dealings with the Ukrainian government. 

The congressman expressed a sentiment that more and more Americans seem to share: Trump’s behavior in relation to Ukraine and potential investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son might not have been handled perfectly, but his overall conduct does not rise to the level of impeachment. As the inquiry proceeds in Congress, it is becoming more apparent that a declining number of Americans still support an attempt to remove Trump from office. 

“While he considers the president’s actions on Ukraine ‘unsavory,’ the congressman said he has yet to learn of anything that would persuade him Trump did something to warrant removal from office,” USA Today’s Ledyard King wrote. “No president has ever been removed from office, Van Drew, 66, points out. And to have a ‘small, elite group’ of lawmakers do so when an election is less than a year away seems to him to be not only unfathomable but un-American.” 

He continued, explaining that he dislikes Trump’s “rudeness,” but also saying that his “job isn’t really to like or dislike him.” He went on to say that his job “is to exact as much goodwill and help for my district and for this nation and for this world that I possibly can while he’s president.”

So, it seems the Democrat’s efforts to push for impeachment might have hit a setback — perhaps even a fatal one. The two House members expressing their disagreement reveals that their case isn’t quite as solid as they hoped. Moreover, their failure to move any Republicans in Congress only makes the situation worse for them. They believed they could turn Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) given that he has criticized Trump in the past. But Hurd wasn’t having it. “I’ve not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion, he said. 

RedState’s Sistah Toldjah reported on a poll demonstrating how Americans’ support for impeachment is on a downward trend:

“In that poll, 31% of those surveyed believed the July call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky was not a big deal. 21% said that even though they felt the call was wrong, they didn’t feel he should be impeached over it, meaning a total of 52% of the 1,000 registered voters surveyed believed Trump had not committed an impeachable offense with the call.

In that same poll, only 36% were in favor of outright impeachment. 22% were ok with an inquiry only, while 37% were opposed to the hearings.”

This isn’t good news for the impeachment-hungry Democrats. In fact, it appears they realize that they are losing support for their pet project. Perhaps this is why some are now calling for censure instead of impeachment. This would pretty much amount to Congress wagging its finger and calling Trump a “very naughty boy.” It might be easier to win such a vote, but it would have no real consequences other than making CNN’s Don Lemon and Fredo* Cuomo happy. 

In other words, the Democrats might still push for impeachment because they have already locked themselves into it. But at this point, it is doubtful that they will remove the president, or even dig up any additional information that could cost him the election in 2020.

*I apologize to any Italian-Americans who were offended by my “Fredo” comment. Please don’t cancel me if you’re reading this ten years from now. 

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. 

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