US President Donald Trump dismisses impeachment talk as Democrats’ 2020 election ploy

As the Democrats take control of Congress, Donald Trump has responded to talk of him being impeached, the US president insisting he’s too “successful”.

US President Donald Trump has pushed back against some Democrats’ calls to impeach him, saying they’re only seeking impeachment because they know they can’t win the White House in 2020.

“How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong” and has had the “most successful two years of any president,” Mr Trump tweeted.

How do you impeach a president who has won perhaps the greatest election of all time, done nothing wrong (no Collusion with Russia, it was the Dems that Colluded), had the most successful first two years of any president, and is the most popular Republican in party history 93%?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2019

He also said he’s “the most popular Republican in party history.”

But this last claim has easily been shown to be false by checking readily available figures published by CNN.

President George H.W. Bush had a Republican party approval rating of 94% in January 1990, at the exact same point in his presidency as Mr Trump is now.

Even higher was George W. Bush’s Republican party approval rating 18 months into his presidency. In July 2002, he had a 96% approval rating.

President Donald Trump’s claim to be “the most popular Republican in party history” has been easily disproved by readily available figures. Picture: AP

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been cautious about whether her new Democratic majority would ever impeach Trump, but at least two of her members are ready to move forward. California Rep. Brad Sherman and Texas Rep. Al Green introduced articles of impeachment against Mr Trump on Thursday, the first day of the new Congress.

Mr Sherman and Mr Green pushed to impeach Mr Trump in 2017 and 2018 but the House blocked those resolutions twice, with the help of Democrats who said the effort was premature.

US Representative Brad Sherman (left) Democrat of California, and US Representative Al Green, Democrat of Texas, introduced articles of impeachment against Mr Trump. Pic: AFP

Speaker Pelosi hasn’t ruled out impeachment but has called it a “divisive activity” that needs support from both parties.

She and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler have said they want to wait for the outcome of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and contacts with the Trump campaign.

President Trump said his campaign did not collude with Russia.

“They only want to impeach me because they know they can’t win in 2020, too much success!” he tweeted.