Former President Donald Trump said political impeachments and indictments are “bad for the country” as House Republicans turn up the heat on President Joe Biden.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the launch of an impeachment inquiry into Biden after obtaining documents and hearing testimony about his possible involvement and communication with his son Hunter about his foreign overseas business dealings. The president has repeatedly denied ever talking to Hunter or any of his business partners about his business dealings.
“Would you do it if you became president again — turning the indictment tables on the Dems?” Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly asked.
“I would think about it differently. I would have never even thought of doing it, but now you certainly have to think about it differently. It doesn’t mean I do it. Because I think it’s so bad for the country,” Trump said on “The Megyn Kelly Show.” “Yesterday President [Vladimir] Putin of Russia used this as an example of what a rotten country we are — that they go after their political opponent and other countries are doing that too … They love it because it makes us look very bad … I was doing well before this, but I don’t know what impact it’s had on my polls, but we’re way up above the Republicans and we’re way up on Biden.”
The former president told Kelly “the country is going to hell” under Biden’s watch, and pointed out he never had an inquiry when House Democrats impeached him during his presidency. Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice, the first being handed down in September 2019 over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where he suggested Zelenskyy’s government investigate Hunter and Joe Biden regarding Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.
The second impeachment occurred in January 2021 where he faced accusations of inciting an insurrection following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate, where Republicans then held a majority, acquitted Trump both times.
Kelly asked Trump if he is concerned about a possible impeachment “rallying support” around Biden. Trump’s four criminal indictments have helped him in the Republican primary polls, in which he leads against his challengers by large margins. (RELATED: ‘Not Good For The Country’: McConnell Warns Against Biden Impeachment)
“Look, he’s a horrible president. Our country is going to hell,” Trump said. “Whether it’s impeachment or not impeachment, this man is destroying our country at the border. He’s destroying it economically, inflation’s way up now … That’s up to them if they want to do impeachment or impeachment inquiry. I never had an inquiry. Crazy Nancy [Pelosi] said, ‘We’re going to impeach him!’ They didn’t do inquiries. They went out and they voted because they had the votes and, as usual, everybody votes for the Democrats. They didn’t have Mitt Romneys of the world and that’s really nice because now he’s not running … I think that’s great for the Republican Party, for the country, and for Utah.”
“But that’s going to be up to them [Republicans] whether or not they want to do it,” he continued. “I have no idea whether they will or not. We do have a lot of other things [to do], but it’s quite important, and they did it to me. And had they not done it to me — I think nobody officially said this — but I think had they not done it to me, then I’m very popular. They liked me and I liked them, the Republican Party perhaps you wouldn’t have it being done to them.”
“And this is going to happen with indictment too — fake indictments. And I think you’re gonna see that as time goes by. You’re gonna see Republicans, they’re empowered to doing it and it’s a shame when that happens. I’m not in favor of that, but that’s what’s going to happen because that’s human nature.”
McCarthy faced pressure from fellow House Republicans to launch the impeachment inquiry. Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who led the effort to launch the investigation, threatened to remove McCarthy from leadership if the speaker did not launch the inquiry.
Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vowed to vote against government spending bills if an impeachment inquiry had not been opened.