A vote to begin proceedings to impeach President Donald Trump will take place no matter what Russia probe special counsel Robert Mueller and his team find, Texas Democratic Representative Al Green stated on the House floor Thursday.
Green, who has forced two impeachment votes that failed by large margins, brought up new impeachment intentions while condemning Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for a photo of a man in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan garb in his medical school yearbook.
"You have in Virginia, a clansman and blackface next to each other in a yearbook. It has been acknowledged as that of the governor," Green said. "There is enough evidence not only to ask that governor resign but to demand that he do so."
Green then linked the controversy to Trump, who has been accused of making racist comments on several occasions.
"But I understand why this level of bigotry is going to be tolerated to a certain extent because we don't want to take on the president," Green said. "If we allow the president to exist with his bigotry, how can we demand with any degree of credibility that the governor resign?"
Green said he is a member of Congress "who after 400 years of bigotry and hatred and slavery and all of these other ugly-nesses" is ready to act.
"We've had 400 years to deal with it and we haven't. What better way to deal with bigotry in this country than to say to the world we will extricate a president from office for his bigotry?" he asked.
Green then concluded: "There will be a vote on impeachment regardless as to what the Mueller Commission says. Bigotry in policy will not be tolerated."
.@RepAlGreen: "There will be a vote on impeachment regardless as to what the Mueller Commission says." pic.twitter.com/07Nk0YxTHZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 7, 2019
After Green finished his speech, a moderator in the chamber of the House of Representatives said, "Members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president."
The Texas Democrat on Thursday also tweeted about the need to impeach Trump after the incident with Northam.
"When we allow bigotry to infect the body politic with impunity at the highest level, other levels will expect impunity for their bigotry. Gov. Northam's refusal to resign for his bigotry is a symptom," Green tweeted. "Failure to act on Pres. Trump's bigotry is the problem. #ImpeachmentIsNotDead."
Green and impeachment advocates including billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer, who founded the Need to Impeach campaign, argue that Trump has committed various impeachable offenses besides issues Mueller is looking into.
But within the House, Green stands largely alone in his push to begin proceedings to remove Trump. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stated that Democrats will wait for Mueller's report before deciding whether to pursue impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Uncommon Knowledge
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