Twitter was alight on Thursday morning with calls to "impeach Trump now." Americans were accusing President Donald Trump of treason after saying in a television interview that he would be willing to take foreign information on a rival in the upcoming 2020 election.
The hashtag "#ImpeachTrumpNow" trended on the social media platform after Trump said during an on-camera interview with ABC News that he would be willing to accept damaging information on an election opponent, even if the intel came from a foreign government.
Ignoring warnings that such a decision could amount to allowing electoral interference by a foreign power, the president said: "It's not interference. They have information, I think I'd take it."
"If I thought there was something wrong, I'd go, maybe, to the FBI—if I thought there was something wrong," he said.
"But, when somebody comes up with oppo [opposition] research, right... If you go and talk honestly to Congressmen, they all do it, they always have, and that's the way it is," Trump said. "It's called oppo research."
While the president appeared unconcerned about making such a claim despite already having spent the majority of his presidency battling allegations of collusion with foreign powers, specifically Russia, in the 2016 election race, social media users were shocked by the exchange.
"TREASON," Dena Grayson, a former Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, wrote in a tweet sharing a clip of the interview.
"[Trump] says he would NOT be obligated to alert the FBI if a foreign country—such as #Russia or #China—offered dirt on his 2020 opponent," she said, adding a shocked emoji for good measure.
🔥TREASON🔥@realDonaldTrump says he would NOT be obligated to alert the FBI if a foreign country—such as #Russia🇷🇺or #China🇨🇳—offered dirt on his 2020 opponent: "It’s not an interference. They have information. I think I’d take it."😳#ImpeachTrumppic.twitter.com/XBozM55Uxz
— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) June 12, 2019
Trump "just committed Treason by saying If Foreign Government Offered Him Something He Will [Accept] it," another Twitter user wrote, adding the hashtag "#ImpeachTrumpNow."
"Oh Dandy Donny—you've finally admitted open conspiracy with any and all foreign governments," another chimed in. "It's time to impeach on the grounds of open treason."
"This is treason in broad daylight," another social media user added, before calling on Democrats Senator Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to "do your job" and "#ImpeachTrumpNow."
Despite facing widespread calls from Democrats to start impeachment proceedings against Trump, Pelosi said on Tuesday that the push to launch the process is "not even close" to having enough support in the House.
It is likely that Trump's latest admission will ramp up calls for impeachment proceedings to begin, which many Democrats have argued should have happened long ago.
In special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, the probe found no evidence to show Trump conspired with Russians to win. Whether the president obstructed justice during the nearly two-year-long probe, Mueller did not come to a decision.
While Attorney General William Barr asserted that there was insufficient evidence to launch a case, Mueller later clarified on his findings, asserting: "If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Chantal Da Silva is Chief Correspondent at Newsweek, with a focus on immigration and human rights. She is a Canadian-British journalist whose work ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
