President Trump basked in the adulation of supporters on Wednesday evening at a rally in Michigan, offering the nation a split-screen moment as House Democrats voted to impeach him.
His defiant stance capped a day of partisan wrangling as the White House sought to portray him as a busy, working president who was more in touch with the day-to-day concerns of voters than his aloof, elitist opponents.
“Democrat lawmakers do not believe you have the right to select your own president,” Trump said to roars of support, before spiraling off on an attack against the media and then veering back to impeachment. “They think the Washington swamp should veto the results of the election.”
He shrugged off the vote as "impeachment light" for lacking any crime. "I don't know about you, but I'm having a good time," he said.
His visit to Battle Creek made for a typically freewheeling response, as he celebrated Republican unity after first riffing on his new Space Force and a pilot who resembles Tom Cruise, demonstrating either Trump’s determination to face down critics or an irrational mind, depending on the viewpoint.
It followed a day of tight message discipline, as aides hammered a three-pronged response. They said the president remained focused on his job, spurring the economy to greater heights and rolling back regulation, while his opponents are intent on obstruction; they cited recent polls suggesting opposition to impeachment was growing; and Kellyanne Conway, in meetings with Republican senators and in briefings to journalists, said Democrats had fallen short of their bold claims.
“You can’t promise people treason, bribery, extortion, high crimes and misdemeanors, collusion, quid pro quos, and then come up with very spare, specious articles of impeachment — one super gauzy and broad, called abuse of power … and obstruction of Congress, which could not have existed, ironically, but for the impeachment inquiry, because it results from the impeachment inquiry,” she said in the White House briefing room.
Trump allies cited details of a Gallup opinion poll published just ahead of the vote. It found the president’s job approval had inched up to 45%, an increase of six points since the House opened its impeachment proceedings.
Talking points sent by the White House to Republicans set out the messaging. It listed Trump wins, from reshaping the courts to destroying the Islamic State caliphate.
“On the very same day Speaker Pelosi announced the launch of this impeachment sham, President Trump was at the U.N. General Assembly laying out his vision for a future of nations that empowers our citizens, respects our sovereignty, and protects our freedom,” said one memo, obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The White House delivered a preemptive strike a day earlier with a six-page letter to Pelosi laying out the main thrust of its defense. Trump returned to it time and again on Wednesday evening.
In it, the president accused Democrats of being motivated by “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” triggered by their 2016 election losses. “You are the ones bringing pain and suffering to our republic for your own selfish, personal, political, and partisan gain,” he wrote.
His letter also compared the impeachment proceedings with the Salem witch trials as he set about portraying himself as a blameless victim.
Aides said the lengthy letter was largely the president’s handiwork, drafted over the course of a week with the help of policy adviser Stephen Miller and director of the Office of Legislative Affairs Eric Ueland.
Privately, aides and Trump himself believe impeachment is good for the reelection campaign. It has spurred donors into action and allows the president, now the incumbent, to run once again as the outsider battling the political establishment.
But that was not the message on Wednesday. Instead, officials described a president hard at work, able to catch only a few minutes of the impeachment debate between meetings.
Conway said he had notched a string of wins in recent weeks. Impeachment had not prevented agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act, establishing the Space Force, and the recent passage of paid family leave legislation.
“It hasn’t stopped the president,” she said. “It hasn’t impeded his progress report.”
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said Trump was denied due process and a fair hearing.
"All of these antics make clear that Democrats have lost sight of what this country needs, which is a Congress that works for the people," she said in response to the vote. "Their boundless animus for President Trump fuels their desire to nullify the 2016 election results and improperly influence the 2020 election.
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December 19, 2019 at 12:00PM
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'I'm having a good time': Defiant Trump assails impeachment-happy 'swamp' he plans to run against - Washington Examiner
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