Surprising no one and appalling many, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday night to impeach President Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment; abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Zero Republicans voted in favor of the sham and two Democrats voted against it. One Democrat split his vote on the two articles, and one Democrat —Tulsi Gabbard—voted present.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi however, later threw a wrench into the process by refusing to say when or whether she would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.
As the first article of impeachment was passed on this “sad and somber” night, Democrats started to applaud, prompting a stern glare from Speaker Pelosi.
WATCH → Dems expose their true colors.
Nancy Pelosi had to shut down Democrat applause when the first article of impeachment passed.
So much for Dems claiming impeachment is "solemn" for them.
What a ridiculous lie! pic.twitter.com/NJjzE8y3t7
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) December 19, 2019
Rep. Zeldin (R-NY) trolled Democrats following the vote:
🚨 BREAKING NEWS!!!
Donald Trump is still your President.
🇺🇸👍💪— Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) December 19, 2019
In one of the more impassioned speeches of the night, Rep Doug Collins (R-GA) called the Democrats’ impeachment charade a “drive-by hit” and accused them of “trashing the institution.”
“I will say this, in this House, whenever the rules are disregarded, chaos and mob rule actually begin and the Majority have taken that to a new level.”
Collins said Republican minority have had to put up with “nothing but rules being broken, people being put down, and questions not being answered” for the past year. He said the Democrats were hellbent on impeaching the president for no other reason than he won the 2016 election.
“I can guarantee that one day you’re going to be back in the minority and it ain’t going to be that fun,” Collins warned.
This is a must watch from @RepDougCollins 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/9rq5ELWCJf
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 19, 2019
Meanwhile, President Trump spoke to over 5,000 supporters at a “Merry Christmas” rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, as the House was voting.
“It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached,” Trump said. “The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong.”
“The do-nothing Democrats, and they are do nothing, are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for [the] American voter” with the impeachment process, Trump continued, calling the impeachment “political suicide.”
“Have you seen my poll numbers in the last four weeks?” Trump added. “They’ve been trying to impeach me since before I ran.”
"With today's illegal, unconstitutional and partisan impeachment, the do-nothing Democrats … are declaring their deep hatred and disdain for the American voter," President Trump tells a massive crowd in Battle Creek, Michigan.#TrumpRally #KeepAmericaGreat #MAGA pic.twitter.com/0NWawTOOXZ
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) December 19, 2019
After the impeachment vote, Speaker Pelosi balked at sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, citing concerns about a potentially unfair trial he would receive there.
“So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi told reporters at a press conference just moments after the House charged Trump with abuse of power and obstructing congressional investigations. “That would’ve been our intention, but we’ll see what happens over there.”
Nancy Pelosi won't commit to sending the House Democrats' sham articles of impeachment over to the Senate.
Basically confirming what we've known all along this impeachment is a WITCH HUNT & A SHAM! pic.twitter.com/2KGQBkIsSE
— Francis Brennan (@FrancisBrennan) December 19, 2019
In reality, Democrats just want to deny the president an opportunity to clear his name.
“Is this a joke?” asked Sen. Johh Hawley (R-MO) on Twitter. “Democrats impeach the President without alleging a single crime, with a bipartisan coalition voting AGAINST, and now don’t have the guts to actually try their case? Did they put the country through this chaos just for their own amusement?”
Former White House press secretary Ari Fleicser called Pelosi’s move “a total farce.”
Mocking Democrats on Twitter, he added, “I thought Trump had 2b removed to save the Republic. For this to even be possible shows what a game this has been for the Ds all along.”
Conservatives on Twitter reacted to Pelosi’s gambit with great disdain.
Pelosi’s comments post-impeachment hint she may withhold articles of impeachment from Senate if she doesn’t get the trial of her political nemesis that she wants. Using leverage for poltiical benefit…Wait…sound familiar?
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) December 19, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: Pelosi threatens to delay Senate impeachment trial. Another “genius” move by the Do Nothing Democrat’s. Make 31 Dems in @realDonaldTrump districts vote for impeachment then don’t send it to the Senate. @SpeakerPelosi welcome to the Minority after the 2020 election
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) December 19, 2019
No surprise that Speaker Pelosi is now refusing to send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate – making a mockery of the Constitution, the rules of the House and every member of the House Democrat caucus who voted to impeach.#ShamImpeachment https://t.co/SBLKirrYjo
— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) December 19, 2019
It's premature to say the president has been impeached when Pelosi is floating not transmitting any Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) December 19, 2019
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he would comment on the House Democrats’ “precedent-breaking” actions on the Senate floor in the morning:
At 9:30am tomorrow morning, on the Senate floor, I will speak about House Democrats’ precedent-breaking impeachment of the President of the United States.
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) December 19, 2019
Late Wednesday night, President Trump pinned the following tweet to his Twitter profile:
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2019