Although Mark Sanford has been a vocal critic of President Trump's excessive spending and demeanor, the former Republican Congressman from South Carolina so far hasn't pressed his former Capitol Hill colleagues to call for articles of impeachment. Rather, in an interview with Cheddar over the weekend, Sanford brought up the idea of "censure" instead.
"If you can't kill the king, don't shoot at him," Sanford said. "I have a problem with some of the components of Trump-ism, and if you want to — in essence — end it, it has to be ended at the electoral voting booth."
On September 8, Sanford announced he, too, would run for President, saying the Republican party has lost its way. Sanford served in Congress from 1995 to 2001 and again in 2013 to 2019, with a stint as governor in between (during which he disappeared for several days with his mistress).
Sanford has stated the reason he lost his seat in last year's midterm election is because he publicly disagreed with Trump.
Although Sanford does not have a vote on any articles of impeachment, his situation as a GOP rival to President Trump during an impeachment inquiry is unique. He told Cheddar the public focus on the inquiry could put a snag in his presidential bid. "The giant sucking sound that we'll hear this fall is impeachment."
"I think you are going to see a real circling of the wagons at times," Sanford added. "That'll make it more difficult, not just for me to my message out, but frankly for a lot of others."
But despite the trouble he predicts for his campaign, Sanford thinks lawmakers need to act on the reports they have received regarding the potentially problematic use of White House power to try to get Ukraine to investigate political rival, Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.
"What you don't want is for the House to move forward with articles, the Senate to do nothing, and then what the President says: 'See, I'm absolved of all guilt, what was going on in Ukraine was totally proven false,'" Sanford said.
Sanford says he is in line with former colleague House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.
"Let's tap the breaks here," Sanford says of Clyburn. "Let's go through the process, see what we find, and then we're going to figure [out what to do] as to whether we should or shouldn't go forward with impeachment."
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
