The US president is predicting an “epic” victory for his party in the November vote that will determine control of the House and Senate.
President Donald Trump has warned Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives that they will be impeached if they do not win a majority in the November midterm elections.
President Trump stressed to lawmakers Wednesday at a Republican rally in Washington, D.C., the importance of maintaining control of the chamber, where his party has a slim majority.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“We have to win the midterm elections, because if we don’t win the midterm elections, they’re going to find a reason to impeach me,” the US president said. “I will be impeached.”
The House can impeach the president or other officials for misconduct, including “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The impeached president is then tried by the Senate, which can convict and remove him from office by a two-thirds vote.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 seats in the Senate will be up for grabs in November.
Members of the House of Representatives are elected in constituencies established by each state according to population size. Senators are elected in statewide elections.
President Trump is pushing Republican-controlled states to pass new congressional district maps that favor right-wing parties. This is a strategy known as gerrymandering, which critics argue is inherently undemocratic.
Texas, Missouri and North Carolina have passed redistricting measures to boost Republican candidates. Democrats countered with their own gerrymandering in California, which was approved through a ballot initiative.
According to various opinion polls, President Trump will enter the midterm elections with an approval rating of about 42 to 45 percent.
With the economy starting to show signs of stagnation and the recent U.S. military action to kidnap Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro proving unpopular, Democrats could use that discontent to regain control of Congress.
Still, Trump sounded optimistic about his party’s chances Tuesday. “We’re going to make history and break records with the epic interim victory we’re about to achieve,” he said.
Still, he expressed confusion as to why Republican support has not increased.
“I want you to explain what’s going on in the minds of the people, because we have the right policies,” Trump said. “They are [Democrats] They have terrible policies. they are stuck together. they are violent. they are brutal. ”
Over the past year, some Democratic lawmakers have called for Trump to be impeached for alleged wrongdoing, citing incidents such as June’s military attack on Iran, which was not authorized by Congress. However, the impeachment bill has not moved forward because left-wing parties are in the minority.
Trump was impeached twice during his first term. The first trial took place in 2019, when he was accused of abuse of power by using U.S. aid to Ukraine to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. President Joe Biden.
The second impeachment took place in 2021 after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump was charged with inciting insurrection after spreading false claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election he lost.
The Senate acquitted Trump in both cases. In the 2021 trial, 57 senators voted to convict him after he left office, but fell short of the 67 votes needed for conviction.
If Trump had been convicted, he would not be able to run again in 2024.
No U.S. president has ever been removed from office by the Senate. Richard Nixon resigned from the White House in 1974 over the Watergate scandal before an impeachment vote was taken.
More recently, Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998 for lying under oath about having a sexual relationship with a White House intern. The Senate also acquitted him.
