President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist and senior adviser David Axelrod said that even if President Trump is impeached, it is not likely he will be convicted by the Senate and removed from office.
Appearing on CNN Tuesday evening after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry, Axelrod, 64, tossed water on some lawmakers’ hopes that impeachment would successfully remove Trump from the White House.
“This is a moment of extraordinary historical import,” Axelrod noted. “Only three presidents in history who were impeached. But it’s also true that no president in history has ever been convicted and removed from office and it is very, very unlikely that that’s going to happen here.”
He pointed out that a large number of Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate would have to vote with the Democrats in order to form the 67 votes needed to oust the president.
“We should be sober about it. But we also kind of know how this story is going to end,” Axelrod said. “Donald Trump is not going to be removed from office, but this is overhang that he will have to deal with over the next many months as he is seeking reelection.”
Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were the only presidents to have been impeached by the House of Representatives, though neither were convicted.
