WaPo Reporter Tells CNN: Democrats ‘Getting Cold Feet’ as Public Turns Against Impeachment

Washington Post congressional reporter Rachel Bade appeared on CNN on Sunday and delivered bad news to critics of President Donald Trump. 

During an “Inside Politics” panel discussion about the impeachment inquiry, Bade said that House Republicans have turned the tables on their Democratic colleagues. She said Democrats in swing districts are feeling pressure from anti-impeachment ads being run in their districts.

“I think what we’re starting to see is when the impeachment inquiry was first announced, and they started to do these depositions, a lot of people were asking can [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi peel off any Republicans in this final impeachment vote,” she said.

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“But I think increasingly the question is becoming ‘Does she lose more Democrats?’ Because Republicans have really sort of unified behind the president, and although two Democrats voted against the impeachment inquiry rules that they voted on a couple weeks ago, we are hearing behind the scenes there are more moderates who are getting cold feet.”

Pelosi, a California Democrat, in September announced an impeachment inquiry into whether Trump abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate allegations of corruption by Democrats. In October, Democrats voted on the rules of the process, which is winding down after a series of hearings.

What Rachel Bade knows and the Democrats won’t admit

Bade’s reporting comes as recent surveys showed public support for impeachment dipping below 50 percent nationwide.

WaPo’s Bade: some Democrats getting “cold feet” as worries grow about public opposition to impeachmenthttps://t.co/koIHxsHdhb pic.twitter.com/RRe6zFkSCS

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 24, 2019

Polling in several swing states found particularly strong opposition to impeachment among voters who will likely determine the 2020 presidential election. A New York Times-Siena College battlegrounds poll released Wednesday found that majorities in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona and Florida oppose removing the president from office through impeachment.

Majorities or pluralities were found to support an investigation of Trump, though.

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However, when CNN anchor Jake Tapper pointed out the swing state trend to House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff of California on Sunday morning, the leader of the impeachment hearings claimed public support for impeachment has “grown dramatically.”

Also Sunday, Rep. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, which would draft any articles of impeachment, told Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, “I’m not focused on the polls.”

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Andrew Tobin is Pluralist’s Editor-in-chief.

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