As lawmakers cast their votes for impeachment Wednesday night, President Trump was far away at a rally in Michigan where he railed against House Democrats but cast impeachment as a victory at the same time.
“It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached,” Trump said at his Merry Christmas rally in Battle Creek, Michigan. “The country is doing better than ever before. We did nothing wrong. We have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we’ve never had before.”
The House voted along party lines to approve two articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, against Trump Wednesday evening. Only three Democrats declined to vote in favor of both articles, and Democratic 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard voted “present.” No Republican crossed party lines to vote in favor of impeachment.
Trump cast the Democrats’ impeachment effort in historical terms, saying they will bare “a mark of shame” for their efforts while maintaining a casual posture in the face of looming impeachment trial.
“They said there’s no crime,” he said. “There’s no crime. I’m the first person to ever get impeached and there’s no crime. I feel guilty. It’s impeachment lite.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m having a good time,” he added.
The president also touted Republican solidarity during his two-hour speech, the second-longest he has ever given.
“Every single Republican voted for us, wow, almost 200,” Trump noted.
Trump hit all his favorite targets during his sometimes rambling speech, from former FBI director James Comey to Hillary Clinton, to a protester who was escorted out by security after making vulgar gestures.
In one of the less-cheered moments of his speech, Trump criticized Representative Debbie Dingell for voting to impeach him even after she thanked him for lowering flags to half-staff after her husband’s death, telling him that her late husband is “looking down.”
“I said, ‘That’s okay. Don’t worry about it.’ Maybe he’s looking up. I don’t know,” Trump jabbed.
However, his frustration with his political opponents continued to burn through.
“They think the Washington swamp should be able to veto the results of an election, that’s what they think,” he told the crowd.
The president also stressed his victories, especially the strong economy and rising employment.
“As of yesterday we’ve had 133 record days in the stock market now,” he said. “Is there a better place in the world to be than a Trump rally?”