In an interview Monday, 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg said he would vote to convict President Donald Trump of two articles of impeachment, though the Senate has yet to begin a trial and neither side has presented its case.
“We’d be much better off letting the voters decide who is president in this country,” Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, said when asked how he would advise senators involved in the trial.
“I was asked if I were [a] senator, how would I vote,” Bloomberg said in an exclusive interview that aired Monday on NBC’s “Today” program.
“I’d have to swallow two or three times, but I would say I would vote to impeach, vote to convict, because there’s just so much evidence that he acted inappropriately,” he claimed.
The two articles of impeachment, which did not receive a single Republican vote, charge Trump with “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”
Republicans have argued that there are no “high crimes and misdemeanors” cited in the articles, which is what the Constitution requires.
The White House, in a rebuttal published Saturday, said that makes the impeachment “constitutionally invalid.”
“The articles of impeachment are constitutionally invalid on their face,” the response read. “They fail to allege any crime or violation of law whatsoever let alone ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ as required by the Constitution.”
For his part, Bloomberg — who has been saturating the airwaves with hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of advertising — said he is more palatable to ‘moderate’ Republicans than the president.
“I would be more acceptable, I think, to the middle-of-the-road Republicans who don’t like him but do want somebody fiscally responsible,” he said. “So it’s that — it’s knowing how to deal with him. It’s being tough enough to deal with him at a practical level.”
The House impeachment managers are scheduled to begin presenting their case on Tuesday. The president’s team will present its rebuttal later in the week.
Who does Bloomberg he is he wants to be elected sooo bad we are voting for Trump you are lying
Who cares what he thinks