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."
Even as tech giant Google implements a vaccination mandate, charging its employees to declare their vaccine status within a time frame or risk dismissal, the federal government is tangled up in the court system trying to impose one of its own. Cindy Cohn, the executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Harry Nelson, founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman LLP, joined Cheddar to debate the ethics, efficacy, and legality surrounding the issue. While Cohn noted that she thinks the federal mandate might be legally sound, her organization is also concerned with a separate question of privacy. "At EFF what we're most interested in is the digital surveillance that's going along with some of these attempts to try to track and confirm whether people are vaccinated or not," she said.
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Victor Li, an economics professor at the Villanova School of Business, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he discusses the latest Fed decision and the implications it has on the stock market.
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The U.S. Government is making its first major move toward encouraging nuclear energy in the U.S., as it pushes toward a sustainable future. Scott Waldman, White House reporter for Politico's E&E News joined Cheddar News to break down the developments. "There's definitely an audience for this now since we're looking at the value of nuclear in terms of climate policy," he said, regarding the prospects for bipartisan support.
CEOs of the top U.S. airlines are set to testify in front of a Senate committee Wednesday. Lawmakers will ask airline executives about how they used pandemic-related federal aid, specifically in light of staffing issues and widespread cancellations. Among those expected to participate are the CEOs of American, United, and Southwest Airlines. David Slotnick, Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy, joined Cheddar News to discuss.
Carlo and Baker cover the latest data showing the Omicron wave has likely started, Pfizer's Covid pill, Jan. 6 and a box office rescue attempt courtesy of Spider-Man.
