According to GOP Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, there’s no need to proceed with the impeachment of President Donald Trump because the person he sought dirt on, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, is not actually a campaign rival of Trump’s.

Speaking with CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes, Meadows was asked if he thought it acceptable for Trump to urge Ukraine to investigate Biden. Amazingly, Meadows responded:

“He’s not a campaign rival.”

Cordes noted:

“He’s a likely campaign rival.”

That led Meadows to tell the reporter:

“Well, there’s a lot of Democrats who would disagree with you on that. There are a lot of Bernie supporters who are watching right now that would suggest that’s not the case.”

Meadows added:

“Does running for president exonerate you from being investigated?. I would love for my Democrat colleagues to give up on the investigation of President Trump based on that same rationale.

“When you look at this particular president and what he asked for to be done, he asked for them to look at it and coordinate with our attorney general!”

Even for Republicans, what Congressman Meadows had to say is pure absurdity. Joe Biden leads in nearly every poll, and the fact that Trump thought it necessary to suggest that Ukrainian prosecutors open and investigation into the former vice president and his son, Hunter, is proof that he’s terrified of Joe Biden being the Democratic nominee. Biden can take away votes from Trump in key battleground states like Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Those three states narrowly voted for Trump in 2016 and are suffering badly from the president’s ongoing trade war with China.

Trump and his party are terrified. And they damn well should be.

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