NewsNation host Chris Cuomo is urging Democrats to resist the temptation to launch another round of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump should they retake Congress in 2026, warning that such a move would be politically futile and nationally divisive.
According to the Daily Caller, Cuomo used a recent episode of his podcast, The Chris Cuomo Project, to push back on talk of perpetual impeachment in a potential Democrat-controlled Congress. He referenced reports that Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had warned Trump that if Republicans were to lose both chambers, he would be impeached every single week for the remainder of his term, a scenario Cuomo said he does not want to see play out.
Did you hear what Ted Cruz said to him reportedly, allegedly? Youre going to lose House seats and Senate seats and theyre going to impeach you every day. Now, I really hope that last part doesnt happen, Cuomo said, emphasizing the lack of any realistic path to conviction in the Senate. Why? You dont have the votes to remove him.
Cuomo underscored that impeachment is inherently political and, in this case, would be little more than a symbolic exercise that further polarizes the country without changing the outcome. It is a political process impeachment. Okay? You do not have the votes you need to remove him. It will not happen, he added. So, why put us through it? And any high-minded idea you give us, I just point you to the last two and see if that helped the country in any way.
Even some prominent Democrats are signaling caution, recalling the political and cultural fallout from the previous impeachment drives. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a Dec. 15 episode of USA Todays The Excerpt that Democrats should not make impeaching Trump the central objective of his final two years in office.
[T]hats not an incidental thing you say Were going to do that. No, there has to be cause, Pelosi said, stressing the gravity of the process. There has to be reason.
House Democrats, under Pelosis leadership, impeached Trump twice during his first term, first on December 18, 2019, for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and again on January 13, 2021, for incitement of insurrection over the January 6 Capitol riot. Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green has also repeatedly introduced articles of impeachment during Trumps second term, all of which have failed.
While the Democratic base continues to accuse Trump of impeachable conduct, many party leaders have been reluctant to promise new impeachment efforts, aware that Republicans are likely to retain control of the Senate and that voters may punish another partisan spectacle.
As ABC News reported on January 17, the political calculus now appears to favor restraint, a rare moment in which even some on the left tacitly acknowledge that endless attempts to overturn the will of voters through impeachment only deepen national division and distract from governing.
Login