Democrat Rep Demands Trump is Impeached for 'Fifth Avenue' Joke
Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) claims joke made before presidency is grounds for impeachment
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Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) is demanding that President Donald Trump is impeached for the famous "fifth avenue" joke he made before winning the 2016 election.
At the House Rules Committee on Tuesday afternoon, Torres argued that Trump joking, about being so popular he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue, should be grounds for his impeachment.
Rep. Torres declared that the joke, Trump made as a presidential candidate, was evidence he was becoming an autocrat, such as those in Central America, and Congress, therefore, has a duty to stop him.
“Now, President Trump famously said that he could shoot someone dead in the middle of Fifth Avenue in New York City and he would get away with it," Torres told the committee.
"What mindset do you have to be in to say this out loud on national TV, and to believe that?” Torres asked.
“Well, anyone that turns a blind eye to behavior like this is providing him that right.”
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Trump’s original comment was made when he was a candidate, not president, according to Breitbart.
He said it during a campaign rally in Iowa in January 2016 and was expressing his wonder at the loyalty of his supporters.
Trump was not expressing an actual desire to shoot anyone, much less describing his anticipated constitutional authority as president.
Even Snopes, the left-leaning “fact-checking” website, felt compelled to throw cold water on misquotes of Trump:
It’s true that Trump made the “shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue” remark widely attributed to him across standard and social media sites.
However, the (somewhat clumsy and crass) comment also generally appeared absent of its broader context, which pertained to the loyalty of his followers, and not an actual desire, intent, or interest in shooting any individuals for the sole reason that he believed it would have no effect on his popularity.
Torres went on to lament the fact that Republicans had canceled several primary votes in the 2020 presidential election cycle, saying that Republicans were “locked in step” behind him.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) has made similar arguments, saying over the weekend that impeachment was “not a punishment for past behavior,” but to prevent future misconduct by the president.
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Meanwhile, Torres's Democrat colleague, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) confirmed on Saturday that he is voting against the partisan push for President Trump's impeachment.
Speaking to a reporter from The Globe, Peterson, who is the House Committee on Agriculture chairman, says he will vote against impeaching the president.
Peterson said he cannot support the Democratic campaign to impeach Trump over his contacts with Ukraine unless, in the unlikely event that, any actual evidence comes to light.
“Unless they come up with something between now and Wednesday,” Peterson said he will vote against impeachment and expects up to five other Democrats to do the same.
“Maybe something will change. I doubt it,” Minnesota’s most senior member added.
The Democrat lawmaker argues that his anti-Trump colleagues in the House committees have yet to produce any evidence on an impeachable offense.
