Trump goes on Twitter tear as Pelosi readies articles of impeachment
- President Donald Trump lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the impeachment process in a Saturday morning Twitter barrage.
- The president's missives follow the news on Friday that Pelosi is preparing to send the articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate next week.
- Trump also lashed out against the FBI, as well as critics of his decision to kill Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.
- The president falsely claimed Democrats had spent "the last 3 days defending" the Iranian general, echoing a sentiment from Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia for which the congressman later apologized.
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With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi preparing to send articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate next week, the president aired his grievances Saturday in a customary morning Twitter spree.
After a weeks-long standoff between Democrats and Republicans over parameters of the impeachment trial and whether key witnesses would be called to testify, Pelosi on Friday signaled her intention to deliver the impeachment articles to the Senate.
The two articles of impeachment against the president relate to his efforts to solicit foreign interference in the 2020 election by withholding military aid and a White House meeting from Ukraine to encourage the country to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 rival, and his son Hunter Biden.
Trump unloaded on Pelosi and the Democrats in a series of tweets, reiterating his belief that he's innocent and citing "new polling" that supports his long-held view that the impeachment is a hoax that the country is eager to move on from.
Trump lashed out at Pelosi, predicting history would remember her as "as the absolute worst Speaker of the House in U.S. history!"
It wasn't immediately clear which polls Trump was referencing. Polling analysis from 538 suggests a razor-thin majority of Americans support the impeachment process, while 47% of the country supports removing the Trump from office.
But Pelosi and the impeachment process weren't the only targets of Trump's invective.
Trump, besieged by criticism for the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani that flared geopolitical tensions, lambasted Democrats and falsely claimed they'd spent "the last 3 days defending" the Iranian general, who has masterminded attacks that have killed American troops.
No Democrats have publicly espoused support for Soleimani.
But Trump's tweets echo the sentiments from Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, who earlier this week claimed Democrats "are in love with terrorists" - a statement for which he later apologized.
Collins outburst was in response to the War Powers Resolution that the Democratic-controlled House passed Thursday evening, which aimed to curb Trump's ability to take further military action against Iran.
Trump also took a shot at the FBI, another frequent punching bag, during his Saturday morning Twitter barrage.
But the president wasn't only on the attack, concluding by boasting a record 95% approval among Republicans and 53% approval overall.
Again, it wasn't immediately clear which polling data Trump was citing. Aggregated polling by 538 suggests 53.5% of the country currently disapproves of the president's performance versus 41.8% that approves, figures that are in line with the RealClear Politics polling average as well.