Liberal comic Bill Maher voiced reluctance about Democrats moving to impeach President Trump, warning his removal from office would result in the country becoming “paralyzed.”
“I’ve been back and forth on impeachment, but last week I was like ’We’ve got to impeach him!’ Now that they’re going to do it, I’m like ’Uh, should we?’” the comedian said Friday on his HBO program, “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
“If we do this, the country is going to be paralyzed,” Mr. Maher said later during the episode. “I’m not saying don’t. … It’s going to be paralyzed for a very long time and all the oxygen in the room is going to be taken by this.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, announced Tuesday that Congress will consider impeaching Mr. Trump following revelations about a phone call the president had with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the White House’s apparent efforts afterward to keep its details under wraps.
Mr. Trump admittedly asked Mr. Zelensky during the conversation to consider launching a criminal investigation into 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joseph R. Biden. An intelligence community whistleblower had filed a formal complaint after becoming aware of the phone call and how it was handled, and Mrs. Pelosi agreed to launch an impeachment investigation after the White House tried to keep it from Congress.
Mr. Maher, 63, has regularly hammered Mr. Trump on his show since he started running for office, and he has repeatedly asserted that the president will not voluntarily leave the White House once his administration should be over.
“Once fascists get power, they don’t give it up. You’ve got President Trump for life,” Mr. Maher said on his show in 2016.
“I absolutely think he will not leave,” Mr. Maher reiterated earlier this year.
Americans are roughly split in half with respect to impeaching Mr. Trump, according to recent polling. The results of NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist survey released Friday found that 49% of respondents approve of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, compared to 46% who disapprove.
More than 220 Democratic members of the House of Representatives, the vast majority of the caucus, have stated their support for moving forward with impeachment proceedings, meanwhile.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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