Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) launched the debate over the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday by comparing the Democrats’ struggle to remove him from office to the Battle of the Bulge against Nazi Germany in World War II.
Described as “Hitler’s Last Gamble,” the battle began in December 1944, when the Nazis sent 200,000 troops into a surprise attack against American forces. Though the Americans prevailed, 100,000 were killed or wounded over two months of fighting.
Pelosi drew an analogy between the impeachment debate and that battle, the largest ever fought by the U.S. Army:
Last week, in observance of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, members [of the House of Representatives] travelled to that hallowed ground to express our gratitude to the heroes who sacrificed everything to secure victory of freedom over tyranny, not just for America, but for the world. The veterans of that battle — who were there, in their nineties — told us how after the war was worn, the Europeans to whom they liberated would ask, “Why did you risk us? You don’t know us, and give your lives to save us — we’re not Americans?” And our men would say, “We came here to fight for you, not because you are Americans, because we are Americans.” As our beloved [late] chairman Elijah Cummings, and Oversight Committee chair, our North Star, said when announcing his support for this action, quote, “When the history books are written about this tumultuous era I want them to show I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny. … I know that he and all of us here are very proud of the moral courage of members who want to honor the vision of our Founders for a republic, the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform to defend it, and the aspirations of our children to live freely within it. Today we are here to defend democracy for the people. May God bless America.
Pelosi was right, in one sense: the Battle of the Bulge was the last-ditch effort of a determined enemy of freedom to stave off inevitable defeat.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He earned an A.B. in Social Studies and Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.