Fox's Sean Hannity says the House should impeach Trump: 'Go for it'

Fox News host Sean Hannity, one of Trump’s most reliable mouthpieces, facetiously called on Democrats to impeach Trump on his Wednesday night show.

“Without a doubt the radical extreme democratic socialist party, they are clamoring for impeachment more than ever before,” Hannity said. “Here is my message to them tonight: Go for it, go for it. I want you to reach for the stars.”

Hannity’s reasoning for his phony encouragement is that impeaching Trump will backfire on Democrats and lead to Trump being reelected in a “landslide.”

The mindset echoes other Trump supporters, including a former White House official who said impeachment would allow Trump to run for reelection as a “wounded warrior.”

But an impeachment trial is unlikely to assist Trump in the way Hannity wants.

The impeachment process would involve a major congressional inquiry that would deeply examine the crimes and corruption that have been investigated in the Mueller report, as well as other matters that were beyond the scope of the investigation (like Trump’s finances).

Trump’s trajectory would very likely follow the path of President Richard Nixon.

Nixon began 1973 with a sky-high 68% approval rating. The televised Watergate hearings began in May of 1973, and as the public became more and more aware of the criminal conduct Nixon engaged in, his approval ratings collapsed. By August of 1974, Nixon’s approval was 24% and he resigned from office in shame.

Unlike Nixon, Trump’s approval rating has always been anemic. He has never had support reaching 50% or above in an average of polls, unlike every other president has since opinion polling began.

Despite Hannity’s sarcasm, an impeachment trial is far more likely to hurt Trump than help him.

Trump himself does not seem to even understand the process. On Thursday he said the courts won’t “allow” impeachment to proceed, but the courts have no say in the impeachment process. That’s up to Congress.

And the situation keeps looking worse for Trump.

Special counsel Robert Mueller made clear at his press conference that he did not decide against prosecuting Trump because of a lack of evidence, but rather because legal guidance says that a sitting president can’t be charged with crimes.

That led to even more members of Congress — now 50 — calling for an impeachment inquiry to begin.

Hannity’s role is to defend Trump on Fox News, his quasi-official propaganda outlet. But in making a cynical case for an impeachment trial, Hannity’s ignorance sets Trump up for a Nixonian fall from grace — and he’s already halfway there anyway.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.