The embattled President of the United States, President Donald Trump has taken to his Twitter handle to blast his impeachment proceedings, calling it an “assault on America” by the “do nothing Democrats” as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened debate ahead of a crucial vote.
“SUCH ATROCIOUS LIES BY THE RADICAL LEFT, DO NOTHING DEMOCRATS. THIS IS AN ASSAULT ON AMERICA, AND AN ASSAULT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!,” he wrote on Twitter.
According to the Evening Standard, President Trump was quoted by Fox News presenter Andy McCarthy, who defended him on the grounds that there was not enough evidence to impeach him,
Mr Trump quote tweeted: “In the end here, nothing happened. We don’t approach anything like the egregious conduct that should be necessary before a President should be removed from office.
“I believe that a President can’t be removed from office if there is no reasonable possibility that the Senate won’t convict and remove the President – Then the House should not be Impeaching the President in the first place. If this is the new standard, every President from here on out is impeachable.”
The president added: “So well stated. Thank you!”
He also said in an earlier tweet: “Can you believe that I will be impeached today by the Radical Left, Do Nothing Democrats, AND I DID NOTHING WRONG! A terrible Thing. Read the Transcripts. This should never happen to another President again. Say a PRAYER!”
It comes as Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi says she has the Democratic votes needed to impeach Mr Trump in the House of Representatives.
The vote is set to take place after six hours of debate on the articles of impeachment, which began at about 5pm GMT.
Ms Pelosi said they were exercising “one of the most solemn powers granted to us by the Constitution”.
Once the US President is impeached in the House, proceedings will then move to the Senate, which will decide whether he is removed from office.
While the Democrat Party has a majority in the House, the Republican Party has a majority in the Senate.
“This is a democracy defining moment,” said Representative Jim McGovern, the chairman of the Rules Committee, as the proceedings began. “This is about protecting our democracy.”
Democrats overwhelmingly approved the rules for the debate, 228-197, with just two defections from Ms Pelosi’s ranks, an early indication of how the votes will eventually fall on the articles of impeachment.
No Republicans supported the procedural vote, but Democrats picked up backing from Representative Justin Amash, the Michigan conservative, who left the Republican party this year to become an independent over his support for impeachment, the Evening Standard reported. #trumpimpeachment #impeachmentday