Democrats were talking about impeaching Donald Trump long before he took office. The media have taken up the refrain in the past several days, insisting that the Washington Post and New York Times “scoops” — neither of which showed Trump doing anything illegal — are grounds for impeachment. Now some Republicans, like Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), are chiming in.
They are not just attacking Trump, but his voters. And they all may soon regret it.
Trump voters understand what is going on here. Trump declared he would “drain the swamp”; the swamp is fighting back.
There is no substance to the claims against him. There is no evidence Trump colluded with Russia. There is no evidence he compromised national security in sharing terror intelligence with Russia — as Obama had done. And the idea that he obstructed justice in talking with former FBI director James Comey is demonstrably untrue.
When Trump claims, as he did on Wednesday, that no politician “has been treated worse or more unfairly,” he is correct.
The media, furious that Trump defied them by winning the election, denied him any semblance of a “honeymoon” in office. And Democrats treated Trump as if he had executed a coup instead of winning an election, dubbing themselves the “Resistance” and obstructing every Trump nominee, every bill, and every policy decision.
President Barack Obama complained about Republican “obstruction,” too. But while their opposition hardened in response to the $862 billion stimulus and Obamacare, the GOP gave Obama a chance to govern.
They approved most of his Cabinet appointees quickly. They told voters “elections have consequences,” and joined Democrats to confirm his early Supreme Court nominees. They never spoke of impeachment — though he had, arguably, earned it.
Trump has never been given the same chance — or any chance — to carry out his agenda. And for months, Trump voters have watched the media fawning over the hysterical opposition, praising the “pussyhat” protesters and downplaying the extremists in their ranks.
Trump voters have not abandoned him because he has not abandoned them. They are patient: they know what he faces. Their only worry is that he may compromise to save himself.
It is slowly dawning on Trump that no amount of compromise will ever satisfy his critics.
Democrats have burned every bridge. The NeverTrump faction, shamed into silence by the election results and by Trump’s nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, have re-emerged behind the shield of the mainstream media to taunt him. And Politicians who once courted his favor rush to the cameras to condemn him, thinking they are saving themselves.
But Trump’s voters understand this is not an attack on Trump alone. They know what White House adviser Steve Bannon told CPAC in February: “If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day it is going to be a fight.” And by spoiling for that fight, the Washington establishment is — foolishly — giving frustrated Trump voters a new reason to come to the polls in the 2018 midterm elections.
Democrats seem to have forgotten the lessons of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, when the country rallied behind the president and Republicans suffered setbacks in the 1998 midterm elections.
Perhaps Democrats think the lessons of history do not apply to them. In an earlier era, where the mainstream media controlled public opinion for the left’s benefit, that might have been a reasonable assumption. But the media, and the country, are different now.
The Washington establishment believes it is entitled to rule. But the only argument for having an elite in the first place is that it will not be swayed by the momentary passions of the mob.
Instead, the establishment has imposed a virtual state of emergency, one that threatens the very institutions the establishment claims to be defending. Case in point: James Comey, for all his protests about the “integrity” of the FBI, continues to use it as a political weapon.
Trump voters did not work hard last fall, against the ridicule of their “betters,” only to see victory snatched away by a radicalized Democratic Party, the contemptuous media, and the sore losers of NeverTrump.
Until now, they might have been tempted to punish Trump’s slow progress on some issues by staying home from the polls. But groundless talk of “impeachment” means that once again, they will be fighting for their country.
Washington, D.C: Beware.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.