It may seem like California billionaire Tom Steyer’s “Need to Impeach” campaign is farfetched.
But, in fact, he has drawn more than 5 million people to sign a petition to oust President Trump from office, a move that, maybe surprisingly, has rattled both Republicans and Democrats.
“I believe this year we’re in a struggle...for the soul of America,” Steyer told Cheddar Monday.
The hedge fund manager launched “Need to Impeach” in October, funding the cause out of his own pocket.
It revolves around what he calls Trump’s eight “impeachable offenses,” including obstruction of justice for firing former FBI Director James Comey and advocating violence for siding with neo-Nazis at the Charlottesville, Va., protests last year.
“I think that this is a lawless president,” said Steyer. “He’s somebody who from the very beginning had no respect for the rule of law.
“He’s a dangerous president, in the sense that he put our democracy at risk.”
Much of Steyer’s campaigning has been geared towards voters aged 35 years or younger. He hopes the strategy will ramp up pressure on lawmakers going into the November midterm elections to talk about the issue.
“People under 35 are the largest age cohort in American history. They vote at approximately half the rate of other citizens...and our attitude is if they don’t participate in our democracy, we don’t have a successful democracy.”
He points to the success of the student survivors of the Parkland, Fla., shooting as an example of younger voters determining the political conversation.
But impeaching Trump would be a massive undertaking, requiring both bipartisan support in Congress and a strong legal case.
There has never been an instance in U.S. history where an impeached president was removed from office. Only President Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton have ever been impeached. President Nixon resigned before he could be impeached and voted out of office by the Senate.
Steyer’s determination to pour his time and money into this campaign has given rise to questions of whether he himself will be running for President in 2020.
But Steyer says he isn’t thinking that far ahead.
“I’m not looking past November 6th, 2018, because I don’t know what’s going to happen [then].”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-man-behind-the-need-to-impeach-campaign).
While Donald Trump stated he would be willing to pardon Capitol Hill insurrectionists should he return to the presidency, the January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to 14 individuals who cast bogus electoral votes for the former president in seven states won by Joe Biden in 2020. Molly Jong-Fast, editor-at-large at The Daily Beast, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ongoing congressional investigation. "It is kind of crazy that every time Trump speaks, he kind of confesses a little more of what he was up to, but you really have to have proof," said Jong-Fast.
Natalie Fertig, federal cannabis policy reporter at Politico Pro, joins Cheddar News to discuss a new YouGov poll that looks at how Americans feel about marijuana and politics.
Alex Ward, National Security Reporter at Politico, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest in a looming international threat as Russia continues aggression against Ukraine, in defiance of Western nations.
The recent Virginia and New Jersey elections are making one trend line pretty clear: voters in this climate will vote on education, and it could be a winning tactic for Republicans.
Virginia's race for governor was defined by, as the Republican candidate and eventual winner described it, "school-choice." Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is taking a page out of Governor Youngkin's playbook for his upcoming reelection bid, over-indexing on themes of education. John Kennedy, Florida capital reporter at Gannett, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
North Korea launched its sixth missile test this month, equaling the total number performed in all of 2021. Cheddar News speaks with Bruce Klinger of the Heritage Foundation on why the regime is suddenly ramping up its weapons testing program.
More than 80 lawmakers are calling for President Biden to release a memo outlining the legal pros and cons regarding the president's authority to cancel student loan debt, the total of which sits around $1.75 trillion. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), joined Cheddar to discuss the memo and support the push to forgive student debt that could potentially have a massive positive impact on the U.S. economy. "I think that would be really helpful for all of us to be able to see as we figure out how we can go forward," she said. "It seems like a simple thing to do, and I hope that the administration will release this memo." For her part, Sen. Smith said she believes the president does have the authority to abolish student loan debt.
Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante, professor and director of the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the Univerity of Arizona, and Dr. Jeannine E. Relly, professor and director of Global Initiatives at the Center for Border and Global Journalism at the University of Arizona, join Cheddar News to discuss the recent journalist killings in Mexico.
