House Dem Warns Removing Trump is ‘Bad Politics’ Because He’d Be Replaced By Nikki Haley: She’d Be ‘Difficult’ to Beat
Congressman John Yarmuth (D-KY) offered made a dubious claim on Monday as he warned Democrats that impeaching President Donald Trump might not be such a good idea after all — because of the person Republicans would select as his replacement.
As he spoke to CNN’s Kate Bolduan, Yarmuth was asked about a recent comment in which he posited that “it is probably not a good thing to get rid of [Trump].” Yarmuth explained that he does think removing Trump from office is “the right thing to do” and the president’s “an imminent danger to this country,” but it could be politically disadvantageous for Democrats if removal leads to the GOP rallying behind someone like Nikki Haley instead of Vice President Mike Pence.
“I was saying the political consequences of that might not be good for Democrats because if we remove him from office, I will guarantee you the Republican Party would not nominate Mike Pence to succeed him. They would nominate someone like Nikki Haley who would be much more difficult for Democrats to defeat.”
Yarmuth concluded that “I don’t think this is about politics and I don’t think we should consider politics, I just think it could be bad politics.”
The Constitution states that the presidential line of succession means Pence would take over for Trump if he were removed from office, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be 3rd in line.
In terms of what the Republican National Committee might do ahead of the 2020 election, it’s worth noting that Rule 9 of their party organization guidelines state “The Republican National Committee is hereby authorized and empowered to fill any and all vacancies which may occur by reason of death, declination, or otherwise of the Republican candidate for President of the United States or the Republican candidate for Vice President of the United States, as nominated by the national convention, or the Republican National Committee may reconvene the national convention for the purpose of filling any such vacancies.
Watch above, via CNN.
