‘The door of impeachable whatever has been opened…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, clarified her recent statement that former Vice President Joe Biden could face impeachment charges if elected president, saying her comments had been distorted by the media.
“That was taken entirely out of context,” Ernst told reporters on Tuesday.
“The point is that the Democrats have lowered the bar so far that … regardless of who it is, if you have a different party in the House than that of an elected president, you can have just random comments thrown out there with folks saying we’re going to impeach,” she continued.
Ernst said over the weekend that because of the Democrats’ efforts to impeach President Donald Trump, “the door of impeachable whatever has been opened.” And given the many allegations of corruption Biden has faced, it’s likely he could face charges from Congress if elected, she said.
“Joe Biden should be very careful what he’s asking for because, you know, we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, ‘Well, we’re going to impeach him,’” she told Bloomberg News.
Democrats immediately slammed Ernst, claiming she was already calling for Biden’s impeachment.
JONI ERNST: We can’t impeach Trump because ELECTIONS.
Also JONI ERNST: If America elects Joe Biden, we’re impeaching his ass IMMEDIATELY.
When can we stop pretending the GOP believes in anything? pic.twitter.com/uDGlnjFGqq
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) February 2, 2020
Joni Ernst said that if Biden were elected, the Republicans would immediately try to impeach and remove him. https://t.co/LXk5HmpUw8
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) February 3, 2020
But Ernst clarified that she was not trying to comment on Biden, the allegations against him, or whether he should be impeached.
“I didn’t say what the headlines said, but simply that we’ve lowered the bar so much,” she explained. “Is this really what the American people want? And I would say no, it’s not.”