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10 Southern U.S. House Democrats in seats flipped in 2018 all vote to impeach
List of supporters includes 5 Democrats who represent districts Trump carried in 2016
♦By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com
WASHINGTON (CFP) — All 10 Southern U.S. House Democratic freshmen who flipped seats in 2018 voted in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump Wednesday, including five who represent districts the president carried in 2016.
The impeachment vote is likely to become a pivotal issue next year as these Democrats try to hang on to their seats against Republican challengers, in an election where Trump is at the top of the ballot.
After more than 10 hours of often acrimonious debate, all 50 Southern Democrats in the House voted for both of the articles of impeachment, which charge Trump with abusing his power and obstructing Congress.
Southern Republicans stuck with the president, with all 102 voting no.
The Democrats from districts Trump carried who voted yes were Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria of Virginia, Lucy McBath of Georgia, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, and Joe Cunningham of South Carolina.
All of them had announced prior to the vote that they would support impeachment; McBath had already voted in favor in the House Judiciary Committee.
The two articles of impeachment were also supported by five other Democrats who flipped GOP-held seats in 2018 in districts that Trump did not carry — Colin Allred and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, Jennifer Wexton of Virginia, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala of Florida.
Two other Democrats who hold seats the GOP is targeting in 2020 — Stephanie Murphy and Charlie Crist from Florida — also voted for impeachment.
The lone Republican in a Southern seat carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, Will Hurd of Texas, who is retiring in 2020, voted no, as did 13 other Southern Republicans who have announced they won’t seek another term next year.
The two articles of impeachment now move to the Senate for a trial, which is expected to begin in January. Trump will be removed from office if two-thirds of the senators vote to convict him on either article.
The final vote on the first article of impeachment was 230 to 197, with just two Democrats — Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey and Collin Peterson of Minnesota voting no. No Republicans voted yes.
The second article of impeachment passed 229 to 198, with another Democrat — Jared Golden of Maine — joining the GOP in voting no.
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Most Southern U.S. House Democrats keeping their powder dry on Trump impeachment
Just 17 of 50 Southern members have come out for impeachment inquiry, most representing safe Democratic districts
♦ By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com editor
WASHINGTON (CFP) — A majority of members of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives have now come out publicly in favor of launching an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, but Southern members are showing more caution about taking that political plunge.
As of August 1, just 17 of the 50 Southern Democrats in the House have called for an impeachment inquiry, all but two of whom represent safe Democratic or majority-minority districts where support for impeachment presents them with little future political peril.
Just two of the 10 Southern Democrats who flipped Republican seats in 2018 — Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida and Jennifer Wexton of Virginia — have come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry. And none of the five Southern Democrats representing districts Trump carried in 2016 — Lucy McBath of Georgia, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Joe Cunningham of South Carolina, and Abigail Spanberger and Elaine Luria of Virginia — have taken that step.
Five other Democrats at the top of the Republican target list for 2020 — Colin Allred and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas, and Donna Shalala, Charlie Crist and Stephanie Murphy of Florida — are also not supporting an impeachment inquiry.
The list of Southern Democrats who have so far not offered public support for an impeachment inquiry includes some of high-profile members, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee; civil rights icon John Lewis of Georgia; and Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 ranking Democrat in the House.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership have been resisting calls to move forward on impeachment, which is why many of the more veteran members have not offered their support.
Here is a state-by-state breakdown of which Southern Democrats have and have not come out for an impeachment inquiry:
Alabama
Not Yet In Support: Terri Sewell
Florida
Support: Mucarsel-Powell, Val Demings, Ted Deutch
Not Yet In Support: Murphy, Crist, Shalala, Wasserman Schultz, Al Lawson, Darren Soto, Kathy Castor, Alcee Hastings, Lois Frankel, Frederika Wilson
Georgia
Not Yet In Support: Lewis, McBath, Sanford Bishop, Hank Johnson, David Scott
Kentucky
Support: John Yarmuth
Louisiana
Support: Cedric Richmond
Mississippi
Support: Bennie Thompson
North Carolina
Support: G.K. Butterfield, Alma Adams
Not Yet In Support: David Price
Oklahoma
Not Yet In Support: Horn
South Carolina
Not Yet In Support: Cunningham, Clyburn
Tennessee
Support: Steve Cohen
Not Yet In Support: Jim Cooper
Texas
Support: Veronica Escobar, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Al Green, Joaquin Castro, Filemon Vela, Lloyd Doggett
Not Yet In Support: Fletcher, Allred, Vicente Gonzalez, Henry Cuellar, Sylvia Garcia, Eddie Bernice-Johnson, Marc Veasey
Virginia
Support: Wexton, Don Beyer
Not Yet In Support: Luria, Spanberger, Bobby Scott, Donald McEacherin, Gerry Connolly
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Mick Mulvaney’s biting comments about Trump resurface after he’s named acting White House chief of staff
Former South Carolina congressman called Trump “a terrible human being” during 2016 debate
♦By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com editor
WASHINGTON (CFP) — Just hours after President Donald Trump took to Twitter to name Mick Mulvaney acting White House chief of staff, a national news outlet resurrected a video from a 2016 congressional debate in South Carolina in which Mulvaney calls Trump “a terrible human being.”
The Daily Beast posted a short clip from video taken during a debate in York shortly before the 2016 election.
Mick Mulvaney at 2016 congressional debate (Photo from Daily Beast)
“Yes, I am supporting Donald Trump. I’m doing so as enthusiastically as I can despite the fact that I think he’s a terrible human being. But the choice on the other side is just as bad,” Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney’s comments were reported at the time of the debate by The State newspaper in Columbia. In that story, Mulvaney also called Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, “perhaps two of the most flawed human beings running for president in the history of the country.”
The Daily Beast did not say where it obtained the video clip, which did not contain the rest of the debate.
Mulvaney’s comments in 2016 stand in contrast to his December 14 tweet after Trump installed him as chief of staff, albeit in an acting capacity.
“This is a tremendous honor,” he said. “I look forward to working with the President and the entire team. It’s going to be a great 2019!”
Neither the White House nor Trump have responded to the video. But a spokeswoman for Mulvaney called it “old news” and noted that Mulvaney had not yet met the president when he made those remarks.
Mulvaney, 51, represented South Carolina’s 5th District from 2011 until he was named by Trump as director of the Office of Management and Budget in 2017. The White House has said he will not give up the OMB job while serving temporarily as chief of staff.
Neither Trump nor the White House indicated how long Mulvaney might serve in the interim role.
Mulvaney will replace John Kelly, who Trump announced would be leaving the White House by the end of the year.
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President Donald Trump stumps for U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky
President calls Barr’s opponent in 6th U.S. House District an “extreme liberal” chosen by “Democrat mob”
♦By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com editor
RICHMOND, Kentucky (CFP) — President Donald Trump traveled to central Kentucky to excite his followers with a Make America Great Again rally in the commonwealth’s 6th U.S. House District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr is in a political dogfight with his Democratic challenger, political newcomer Amy McGrath.
At an October 13 rally at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Trump said re-electing Barr “could make the difference between unbelievable continued success and frankly failure where we fight for two more years with these people, with these obstructionists.”
He also blasted McGrath as an “extreme liberal” who was “chosen by Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters — that’s a real beauty — and the radical Democrat mob.”
“Amy supports a socialist takeover of your health care,” he said. “She supports open borders. She needs the tax hikes to cover the through-the-roof garbage that you want no part of.”
For his part, Barr lauded the president, calling him “a man of action.”
“Other people resist, but this president gets results,” he said. “Mr. President, I’m with you to fight for the American people.”
In addition to Barr, the Richmond rally drew all three of Kentucky’s top elected Republicans, U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and Governor Matt Bevin, who faces what is likely to be a touch battle for re-election in 2019.
In response to Trump’s characterizations of her, McGrath released a one-sentence statement to the media: “Mr. President, you clearly don’t know me. Yet.”
According to McGrath’s website, she supports reforms of the existing Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, rather than its repeal, which Barr has voted for. She also supports the so-called “public option,” a government-run health insurance agency to provide an option for people who cannot get access through the ACA.
McGrath opposes Trump’s plan to build a physical wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, which Barr also supports, and has also criticized the administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents.
A day before Trump came to Richmond, former Vice President Joe Biden came to the district to campaign with McGrath.
McGrath, 43, who grew up in the Cincinnati suburbs of Northern Kentucky, is a retired Marine fighter pilot making her first bid for the political office against Barr in the 6th District, which includes Lexington, Frankfort, Richmond and adjacent portions of the Kentucky Bluegrass.
Barr, 45, has represented the 6th District since 2012. Prior to being elected to Congress, he was an attorney in Lexington.
McGrath has raised more than $3 million for the campaign, more than any other Democratic challenger in the South in 2018.
The race is rated as a toss-up by political analysts, although public polling has been sparse.
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U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will leave her post at the end of 2018
Former South Carolina governor says she has no plans to seek the White House in 2020
♦By Rich Shumate, ChickenFriedPolitics.com editor
WASHINGTON (CFP) — In a move that caught Washington by surprise, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has announced that she will step down from her post at the end of the year.
The former South Carolina governor made the announcement at the White House October 9 sitting next to the man who appointed her, President Donald Trump, who told reporters that Haley has “done an incredible job.”
“Hopefully you’ll be coming back at some point … maybe a different capacity,” Trump said.
U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley announces her departure with President Trump at the White House October 9 (Courtesy White House pool)
Haley, who had been a vocal critic of Trump during the 2016 campaign before signing on to serve in his Cabinet, made it clear that her departure has nothing to do with any future political plans.
“No, I’m not running for 2020,” she said. “I can promise you what I’ll be doing is campaigning for this one,” pointing to Trump.
Haley said that after six years as governor and two years in the U.N. post, she wanted to leave government service and return to private life, although she did not announce any specific plans.
“I think you have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and allow someone else to do the job,” she said.
Haley also defended Trump’s approach to foreign policy, which has frequently been disquieting to some of America’s traditional allies.
“Now, the United States is respected,” she said. “Other countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do.”
Haley, 46, the daughter of Sikh immigrants from India, had no foreign policy experience when she was tapped for the U.N. post. She is the only woman in a senior-level Cabinet post and the last survivor of Trump’s original foreign policy team, which has featured two different secretaries of state and three national security advisers.
During the 2016 campaign, Haley supported two of Trump’s rivals after urging Americans to resist the temptation “to follow the siren call of the angriest voices,” in what was widely seen as a thinly veiled rebuke of Trump.
She never never explicitly endorsed Trump during the campaign, although she did tell reporters at the Republican National Convention in July that she intended to vote for her party’s nominee.
However, since her elevation to the Cabinet, she has defended the president, most recently by criticizing the author of an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times who described an internal resistance movement within the White House.
“I don’t agree with the president on everything. When there is disagreement, there is a right way and a wrong way to address it,” Haley said. “I pick up the phone and call him or meet with him in person.”
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