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."
Carlo and Baker discuss the sweeping new vaccine mandate in NYC that will target all private businesses. Plus, Trump's media venture gets its CEO and more.
Rebecca Walser, President of Walser Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she discusses the factors behind Monday's surge on Wall Street and explains why investors will likely experience volatility in the market throughout the month of December.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello joined "Closing Bell" to break down the progress of the SAFE Banking Act in Congress as cannabis businesses operators struggle to find financial institutions that will service them. Banks face steep federal penalties, including the risk of losing a bank charter, if found to be servicing marijuana businesses even if their state has legalized operations. Aiello reported that while there was some bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate, the bill faces some opposition from conservatives with "longstanding concerns" about cannabis and progressives who prefer a more comprehensive approach to reform.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri is slated to testify this week in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee after a Wall Street Journal report that found the Meta-owned social media platform is negatively impacting the mental wellness of teen girls.
Chinese regulators are reportedly behind China-based ride-hailing company DiDi exiting from the New York Stock Exchange, just days after listing earlier this year. The regulators stated prior that DiDi had not received the necessary clearances to list in the states. Gordon Chang, Asian affairs expert, joined Cheddar to break down what the delisting says about the relationship between nations. "This really strikes me as an attempt to really to force a decoupling of China and the U.S. in the financial markets," Chang said.
U.S. Futures were pointing to a higher open to round out the week despite a miss on the November Jobs Report, which showed slower job growth than expected-- and as the omicron variant continues to spread across the country. Patrick Healey, Founder & President at Caliber Financial Partners joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Just days after the detection of the Omicron variant, the World Health Organization has agreed to start the process of establishing a global pandemic treaty or accord. Amy Maxmen, senior reporter for Nature, and Dr. Samuel Scarpino, managing director for the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss this effort and what lessons can be learned from the many COVID-19 failures as the world prepares for future pandemics.
