Speaking to reporters Wednesday, one week after the Senate voted to acquit him on two impeachment charges - abuse of power and obstruction of Congress - President Trump shared the lessons he learned from the ordeal.
“Lisa Murkowski earlier said that you shouldn't have gotten involved with the Roger Stone case. She said it's just bad. Some Republicans have said they hoped you would learn a lesson from impeachment. What lesson did you learn from impeachment?” a reporter asked.
Trump didn’t hold back.
“That the Democrats are crooked,” he replied. “They've got a lot of crooked things going, that they’re vicious, that they shouldn't have brought impeachment, and that my poll numbers are 10 points higher because of fake news like NBC, which reports the news very inaccurately, probably more inaccurately than CNN, if that's possible, MSDNC, and if you take a look at NBC—no—I think they're among the most dishonest reporters of the news.”
Q: "Some Republicans have said they hoped you would learn a lesson from impeachment. What lesson did you learn from impeachment?"
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 12, 2020
President Trump: "That the democrats are crooked…that they shouldn't have brought impeachment and my poll numbers are 10 points higher." pic.twitter.com/N7ToHqdKfY
Many Democrats dismissed Trump's acquittal, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer calling it "virtually valueless" and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisting he's "impeached forever." Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), meanwhile, argued Trump wasn't acquitted because the trial was rigged.
"You don't get acquitted when you don't even get to call witnesses, or relevant witnesses, or have the documents because the president stonewalled all efforts on the part of the House to get the information they requested. So there you go. It was a rigged trial," she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "He can run around saying he was acquitted but you don't get acquitted in a rigged trial."
Clearly, Democrats learned nothing from their efforts. Many are already busy conjuring up Impeachment 2.0.
