Some Trump supporters in Utah thought it would be a good idea to hold an anti-impeachment rally this week right outside the office of Rep. Ben McAdams (D-UT), who recently announced his support for the House impeachment inquiry into the actions of President Donald Trump and his attempts to get the government of Ukraine to investigate one of his 2020 Democratic rivals.
But as the Salt Lake Tribune reports, the rally turned out to be a bust when more pro-impeachment protesters showed up than did Trump supporters:
It started when Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee scheduled a news conference and rally there to attack McAdams. But the freshman congressman’s supporters and Trump critics showed up with about three times as many people to outshout them.
“Thank you, Ben,” McAdams’ supporters chanted, while the other side yelled back, “For what?”
The Tribune says the pro-impeachment crowd numbered about 100. The anti-impeachment supporters were estimated to be a mere 35.
Things got a bit tense when one man ripped a sign out of the hands of an anti-Trump protester:
Opposing protesters waved signs in one another’s faces. One man wearing a Vietnam veteran hat (he declined to give his name) ripped a sign out of a protester’s hands and threw it to the ground after he said it was held too close to his face.
“I don’t care if they protest,” the man said. “But they can’t violate my personal space.” Some Republicans said that confrontation actually and accidentally was between two Trump supporters, but the man in the hat would not confirm it. He and others nearly came to blows at other times, before others calmed them.
The main speaker on President Trump’s behalf was Former Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes, who is preparing to run for governor of the state in 2020. Hughes asserted that the impeachment inquiry is illegal because the House hasn’t yet taken an formal vote on the matter.
However, as Lawfare noted this week, there is no Constitutional mandate that says a vote must be taken for an impeachment inquiry to be held:
“There is no constitutional requirement that the House take two successful votes on impeachment, one to authorize some kind of inquiry and one to ratify whatever emerges from that inquiry. An impeachment inquiry is not ‘invalid’ because there has been no vote to formally launch it, and any eventual impeachment would not be ‘invalid’ because the process that led to it did not feature a floor vote authorizing a specific inquiry.”
Cindy De Roda said she showed up because she believes that “Trump is a traitor to this country and a traitor to American values. He has shown that time and time again, and it’s enough. He needs to be impeached.”
Featured Image Via Lorie Shaull for Flickr
