The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to affirm the ongoing impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. After weeks of gathering information from witnesses through closed door hearings, the committees overseeing impeachment are expected to hold public hearings in the near future.
The impeachment proceedings against Trump have escalated quickly, with new information emerging practically every day. Some may have forgotten that this all started with an anonymous whistleblower complaint fearing that a call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may have created vulnerabilities in national security.
Republicans dismissed the then-rumored contents of the complaint as hearsay, and the White House soon released a rough transcript of the call, in which Trump urges Zelensky to investigate his potential 2020 opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, as well as a conspiracy theory regarding the 2016 election.
The whistleblower complaint was released soon after, corroborating the contents of the White House transcript and further asserting that the White House took steps to conceal the calls, which was later corroborated as well.
Nevertheless, Trump insists that the transcript vindicates him, repeatedly insisting the call was "perfect," even though it boosted support for his impeachment. He seems set to do the same again.
Trump said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that he intends to broadcast himself reading the transcript of the call:
“This is over a phone call that is a good call. At some point, I’m going to sit down, perhaps as a fireside chat on live television, and I will read the transcript of the call, because people have to hear it. When you read it, it’s a straight call.”
Fireside chats were radio addresses given by former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during World War II, meant to assure Americans of leadership and progress during a tumultuous time.
Unlike with Roosevelt, people suspect Trump's version of a fireside chat would only bolster support for his impeachment and removal. So, naturally, they're begging him to follow through with it.
What would a Trump fireside chat look like anyway?
At least now we know he can read, right?
