An impeachment of President Joe Biden could blow up in Republicans’ faces ahead of the 2024 election, MSNBC's political analyst Jonathan Lemire said Friday.
Several mainstream party members have told Lemire they’re hesitant to vote next week on an impeachment inquiry that has the potential to tip the scales in Biden’s favor, Politico’s White House bureau chief and MSNBC host said.
“They're really worried,” Lemire said. “This has a real chance to backfire on Republicans in 2024.”
Two factors contribute to conservative concern that the impeachment push from U.S. Rep. James Comer isn’t worth the risk, Lemire said.
The first is the effect impeachments had on former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump’s approval ratings.
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“We have seen other occasions where presidents' poll numbers go up after impeachment,” Lemire said.
The second appears in MSNBC host’s Chris Jansing’s tie-in to Lemire’s introduction: “Speaking of no evidence….”
Despite years of probing, the House Oversight Committee has yet to uncover substantial evidence backing corruption claims tied to the Biden family, according to fact-check analyses, legal experts, a Freedom Caucus conservative and even a Fox News correspondent.
But, as Jansing noted, that did not stop House Republicans Thursday from releasing a resolution to authorize the impeachment inquiry.
Jansing asked Lemire if a recent indictment against his son Hunter — charged Friday with failing to pay $1.4 million in federal taxes — disproved Republicans' contention that Biden was weaponizing the Department of Justice for his own benefit.
“No,” Lemire replied. “These arguments Republicans are making are not going to carry much in the way of water.”
