President Trump refusing to work with Democrats while they investigate him is just the latest sign that he's desperate to be impeached, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough says.
Scarborough during a Morning Joe discussion of Trump's Wednesday refusal to hold infrastructure talks with Democrats argued that the president "wants to be impeached so badly," Mediaite reports.
This immediately prompted a laugh from analyst John Heilemann, but Scarborough quickly clarified he was serious, making the case that Trump wants the House to impeach him so he can then be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate.
"He saw what happened with Bill Clinton, whose presidency he looks at and studies an awful lot, and he saw that Bill Clinton went up to 60 percent after he was impeached," Scarborough said.
Trump wants this ahead of the 2020 election, Scarborough argued, because "he knows he's got no record to run on" and "doesn't have much to show for" his presidency. Plus, he "loves to be victimized," Scarborough argued. Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski agreed, saying that Trump is "desperate" for impeachment as a way to "turn the attention on him in the most chaotic way."
This is an argument that has also been set forth by some Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has said that Trump is "goading us to impeach him" but has essentially argued that doing so would play into his hands if there is not a bipartisan consensus. She has continuously rejected impeachment talk for that reason, even as she says some of Trump's conduct could be impeachable.