David Pakman (18:17)
And of course, by the radical left, he means people who breathe oxygen. Now think about what this actually means. The sitting speaker of the House is saying to his own base, Trump's presidency is so fragile. It's so fragile politically. It, it's so fragile legally that the only thing keeping impeachment off the table is raw, partizan control of Congress. It's not innocence that will prevent Trump from getting impeached. It's not merit, it's not governing well. It's just a question of how many Republicans are in the House and how many Democrats are in the House. This wasn't said to Democrats or the media. The message from MAGA Mike Johnson here at the Turning Point USA eventually was to Trump's own supporters. And it's a fear tactic. And notice the framing. Johnson doesn't say Democrats will abuse power. He does use the term radical, that left. Ok, so that's the pejorative for sure. But he says they are going to do it. He doesn't argue that there's no basis for impeachment. It's simply if they get the votes, Democrats are going to do it. It's not really a defense, really. It's more of an admission than a defense. As I see it now, Johnson is also reacting to a very tangible and real political problem for this party. Trump's approval rating is in the toilet. Polling shows something like two thirds of Americans think the country's on the wrong track. CNN's data analysts are saying that if those numbers hold, Republicans would indeed lose the House. And Republicans, I think, know what happens next. Democrats are. Some Democrats have already introduced articles of impeachment, and there seem to be no shortage of reasons why Trump could be impeached. Now let's talk about impeachment itself. Within a week of Trump's second term starting, I did a segment that many of you found quite compelling, which argued that just on the basis of his first seven days back in office, Donald Trump was worthy of impeachment. However, politically, I said, it's not going to go anywhere because there are two parts to impeachment. Getting impeached is when the members of the House vote and say, yes, we are starting impeachment articles, impeachment proceedings against the president. That means you've been impeached. That doesn't mean you're removed from office. After the House starts those that process, there is a trial, and it is the senators, the hundred senators who vote, do we convict or do we acquit on impeachment? Only if, after the impeachment trial, senators vote to convict, would a president be removed. And as I described at that point, and is still the case today, even if Donald Trump were to be impeached by the House of Representatives, there is no way that with the current Senate balance, or even the likely Senate balance, no matter what happens November of 2026, there is really no way that he is going to be convicted. And therefore, the question becomes, is it worth it? Is it worth going through an impeachment proceeding, the outcome of which is already known? My audience is divided on this. Some of you write to me and you say, david, it's not worth it. Impeaching him again, for him to be acquitted is simply not worth it. There are others in my audience who say impeachment is a congressional responsibility. You don't say, we will only impeach if we can get a conviction in the Senate. You impeach if the actions of the president justify impeachment, and then you let the cards fall where they may. In a way, I'm sympathetic to both views. I don't want to waste time on another impeachment that will go nowhere. But I believe that impeachment is such a serious thing that if there is just cause for filing articles of impeachment, the House of Representatives should not make a political consideration as to what is likely to or probable or almost guaranteed to happen in the Senate. It should be impeachable. Offense means that we impeach and I lean that way. So MAGA Mike Johnson is sort of levying this warning at a time that Republicans really do need to hear it. We should see it as we need to make damn sure that we do take the house in 2026 away from these Republicans. Even if the impeachment justification is not titillating to you. We do not want Donald Trump to get a damn thing done those last two years of his presidency, not only because the things he would try to do would be terrible, but because getting nothing done for two years is likely to weaken Republicans in 2028 presidential run. That's my view right now. Let me know if you disagree. All right, listen. Some of the things that this administration is putting out in public, they are putting out because they must assume that you're dumb. They must assume that you're stupid. They must assume that you are too incompetent to think through it for yourself. They wouldn't say some of these things if they believed you were smart. Let me give you an example. Here's Doug Burgum on Fox News. This is Donald Trump's Secretary of the Interior. He says wind energy sucks because if the wind isn't blowing, you get no energy. And that on the coldest days or the hottest days on the east coast, wind is only providing a small percentage of the total grid. So you still need the rest of the power. Now this is a line that does get applause every time because it sounds like common sense. Wind power, you need wind. If there's no wind, you got no power. It is misleading in every way that matters. Let me play the clip and then we will discuss it.
