President Donald Trump addressed the issue of impeachment for the first time publicly on Thursday, warning about the consequences of removing him for the presidential office.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump warned that the “market would crash” if he were impeached, questioning why Democrats would even would even considering going down that course in the future.
“I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job,” Trump said in the interview, which aired Thursday on “Fox & Friends.”
“I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor because, without this thinking, you would see -- you would see numbers that you wouldn't believe, in reverse,” Trump added.
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s guilty plea earlier this week implicating Trump may have raised the prospect of more congressional probes into the president’s conduct, particularly if Democrats are able to gain control of Congress following the midterm elections. But for now, few lawmakers are discussing impeachment.
Democrats, and many Republicans, are holding off the talk of impeachment while special counsel Robert Mueller continues his investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, ABC News reports.
“If something comes out that is clear and convincing and impeachable, I think members will act,” Rep. Tom Cole, a member of the House GOP leadership, told CNBC Wednesday, adding that it was “too soon” for Congress to start an impeachment probe.
“We need to know the facts and the law before we decide upon a remedy,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal told ABC News. “It has to be a remedy that the American people will be supporting because ultimately the decision will be made not only in the courts but also the court of public opinion.”
“The way I look at this is let Robert Mueller do his job and let’s wait for the report to come out,” Rep. Cheri Bustos, a member of Democratic leadership, said. “Should it show that laws were broken, we understand full and well that there’s not anybody who is above the law.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has urged the Democratic caucus to not push for impeachment, and said that any eventual effort should be bipartisan.
“The Special Counsel’s team and the prosecutors in New York are conducting thorough and professional investigations, and they must be allowed to continue free from interference,” Pelosi wrote to her fellow Democrats on Wednesday. “As November rapidly approaches, we must also stay focused on delivering our strong economic message to hard-working families across America.”
Pelosi also told House Democrats in a conference call on Wednesday to ignore the scandals surrounding the White House, including Cohen’s guilty plea and Omarosa Manigault Newman’s tapes.
However, there is some concern privately among Republicans that if Democrats take control of Congress in November, they will go after Trump.
“The idea of an impeachment is frankly a sad attempt by Democrats, it’s the only message they seem to have going into the midterms,” said White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. “It is another great reminder why Americans should support other like-minded candidates like the president.”
There have, however, been attempts to bring forward articles of impeachments, including from Rep. Al Green. Green said he has not ruled out presenting another set of impeachment articles if none of his colleagues do so following Cohen’s guilty plea.
“The president of the United States is now directly implicated in a criminal conspiracy, numerous members of both his campaign and administration have been convicted, pleaded guilty to felonies, or are ensnared in corruption investigations, and the Judiciary Committee has real work to do,” Rep. Jerry Nadler said.
Impeachment, however, does not seem to be on the horizon anytime soon. Even some of Trump’s toughest critics have said that there is currently limited evidence for a convincing case for impeachment.