Trump seems to reveal he has no clue how impeachment works
The inner workings of Washington, D.C. politics can be confusing, even for residents of the White House.
President Trump inadvertently revealed his fuzzy understanding of the impeachment process while talking to reporters on Thursday. "I can't imagine the courts allowing it," he said, when asked for his thoughts on the matter.
But impeachment, which Trump called a "dirty, filthy, disgusting word," doesn't take place in "the courts," it's a process handled by Congress.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While a growing number of Democrats have called for proceedings to begin, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and a number of pundits have speculated that Trump is essentially begging to be impeached, since he could see it as playing to his political advantage. MSNBC's Joe Scarborough argued that Trump wants the House to impeach him so he can then be acquitted by the Republican-controlled Senate. However, that theory would require Trump to understand that the process would occur within the two chambers of Congress, which, judging by the clip above, doesn't seem to be the case.
