Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) predicted on Tuesday that Democratic candidates would be hurt in 2020 if House Democrats impeach President Trump.
“Go back to the last time something like this happened, and that was when Republicans were in control of the House and President Clinton was the president,” Byrne, who is challenging Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in 2020, told Hill.TV’s Buck Sexton and Jamal Simmons on “Rising.”
“Republicans went after President Clinton, actually did have impeachment against him, sent it over to the Senate,” he continued.
“It hurt the Republicans in the elections. I’m going to tell you right now: If the Democrats keep going with this, it’s going to hurt them in the elections in 2020,” he said.
“The Speaker knows that. The majority leader knows that,” he added. “That’s why they’re pushing back so fiercely against the effort to do this. But it looks to me like there’s enough people inside the Democratic conference in the House who are demanding this, and I don’t know that they can restrain them.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has urged members of her caucus to proceed with caution on impeachment, warning that it could politically backfire on Democrats.
However, numerous Democratic lawmakers and presidential candidates have gotten behind the idea after special counsel Robert Mueller said last week that charging Trump with a crime was “not an option” for the Department of Justice, effectively punting the issue to Congress.
— Julia Manchester
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