Democrat Andy Kim: We Cannot 'Overlook' Trump's 'Abuse of Power'

Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), a freshman Democrat representing a New Jersey swing district, said Saturday that Democrats cannot “overlook” President Donald Trump’s “abuse of power.”

Rep. Kim hosted a town hall in Westhampton, New Jersey, speaking on a range of topics including President Trump’s Syria and Afghanistan strategy, as well as his support for impeaching President Trump.

Rep. Kim, who had initially resisted calls for him to back impeachment, joined the large swathe of Democrats now seeking to oust President Trump.

During the town hall, one Burlington County, New Jersey asked the freshman Democrat why Americans should not wait and let people decide whether to oust the president through the ballot box.

The New Jersey resident asked, “There’s only one year until the election, why not let the people decide at the polls instead of going down this partisan road?”

Rep. Kim said that Democrats can no longer ignore the president’s alleged abuse of power.

Kim said:

We can’t overlook what has actually happened in terms of the president’s abuse of power. I just want us as a room and as a country to reflect upon what we think we want to see from a commander in chief and what responsibilities they have to us. And see if we have at least some agreement upon whether or not we think a commander in chief should be engaging with a foreign country about personal gain.

Congressman Kim represents one of the many districts that President Trump won by more than six points during the 2016 presidential election and that Republicans hope to flip during the 2020 election cycle.

Democrats’ drive to impeach President Trump has become increasingly fervent.

Rep. Max Rose (D-NY), another freshman Democrat representing Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York, said Friday, in a twisted sense of the American justice system, President Trump must “prove” he is “innocent” on impeachment.

“I do not want to be here. This is the last thing I want to be doing,” Rose said. “But no one is to blame but the president. The president says he is innocent, so all we are saying is ‘prove it.’ But that is not what they are doing. They are not cooperating, and we need to get to the bottom of it.”