Democratic Leader smacks down GOP talking point that impeachment 'silences' 63 million Trump voters

One of the persistent narratives pushed by House Republicans opposing the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump is that the vote somehow 'silences' the 63 million voters who backed Trump in 2016. At one point, the GOP even led the chamber in 'moment of silence' to honor those voters.

In his lengthy and impassioned speech leading up to the final vote, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) laid out the gravity and necessity of impeachment and urged Republicans to join him in standing up for the rule of law. But he also took a moment to note a simple fact that undermines the idea that Trump's voters are a popular will to be overruled.

"There's been a lot of talk about the 63 million people who voted for Mr. Trump. Little talk about the 65 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton," said Hoyer, to applause.

With that one line, Hoyer laid bare the contradiction of the GOP argument. Republicans have been claiming that impeachment is invalid because it is not being decided by popular majority — but nor was the election of Trump in the first place.

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