The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a Congressman’s bid to launch impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, tamping down a groundswell of anger after the President made xenophobic comments about Democrats.
The chamber voted 332 to 95 to table, or effectively kill, a resolution brought by Democrat Al Green that raised whether to begin procedures to remove Mr. Trump from office.
The majority of the House’s 235 Democrats joined all Republicans in voting to indefinitely delay the impeachment bid, although a substantial number of Democrats went on record in favour of considering articles of impeachment.
Mr. Trump took to Twitter following the vote to declare efforts to impeach him “over”.
“This is perhaps the most ridiculous and time consuming project I have ever had to work on,” Mr. Trump wrote, adding: “This should never be allowed to happen to another President of the United States again!”
In Greenville, South Carolina, he told reporters before addressing a rally: “We have just received an overwhelming vote against impeachment... And that’s the end of it. Let the Democrats now go back to work.”
While Mr. Trump’s rhetoric against freshman Congresswomen has enraged liberals, just four Republicans voted with the 235 Democrats Tuesday night to condemn Trump for “racist comments that have legitimized and increased fear and hatred of new Americans and people of color.”
Pelosi stood by the resolution condemning Trump’s language. “By its definition, those words are racism,” she said.
But she told reporters she would rather see ongoing investigations of Trump play out before launching any divisive impeachment effort.
