Klobuchar calls Trump Ukraine scandal ‘a global Watergate’
Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar described President Donald Trump's behavior as unambiguously impeachable, calling it “a global Watergate" and the textbook behavior of what the Founding Fathers considered worthy of removal from office.
"This is something where the Founding Fathers themselves, James Madison, said the reasons we needed impeachment provisions was that he feared that a president would betray the trust of the American people to a foreign power," Klobuchar said in an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd released Sunday. “That is why this is proceeding. I see it simply as a global Watergate.“
House Democrats are investigating whether Trump committed impeachable offenses by pressuring the Ukrainian government to publicly launch an investigation that would have been politically damaging to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The Constitution states the president can be impeached for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
On “Meet the Press,” Klobuchar compared Trump's behavior to the Watergate scandal, only on a larger scale. President Richard Nixon was nearly impeached because his White House oversaw a 1972 break-in to Democratic headquarters and because he participated in a cover-up afterward. Nixon resigned in August 1974 before he could be impeached.
"That is basically what this president has done on a global basis," Klobuchar told Todd.
Klobuchar isn't the only one to draw the Watergate parallel. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that she agrees Trump's actions exceeded anything committed by Nixon because at least Nixon "didn't involve involving other foreign nations."
"If you take a look at what the Founding Fathers were concerned about, it was the interference by foreign governments in our political system. That was one of their gravest concerns," Lofgren told CNN's Dana Bash. "Nixon's behavior didn't fall into that range. So, in that way, this conduct is more serious.”
If the House impeaches Trump, Klobuchar would be called from the campaign to sit as a juror in a Senate trial on whether to remove the president from office. Speaking with Bash on Sunday, Klobuchar said she would fulfill her constitutional obligation and "meet whatever obstacle is put in front of me."
"I have many people out there for me if I can't leave for a few weeks," Klobuchar said on “State of the Union.“ "That includes my husband and daughter, who are excellent campaigners. But it also includes all of our endorsers."
Klobuchar added that she feels she is the candidate most capable of beating Trump because of her past success in suburban, rural and urban areas as a senator from Minnesota. She added experience and the ability to connect to moderate voters are crucial — a subtle dig at some of her more leftist or less politically experienced competitors.
"If Donald Trump gets elected, shame on us," Klobuchar said.
