House Democrats say Trump's impeachment has been totally eclipsed by coronavirus

It may feel like an eternity ago at this point, but President Trump's Senate impeachment trial ended in an acquittal less than two months ago on Feb. 5. House Democrats thought it would define 2020's down ballot elections, and many lawmakers representing swing districts had to carefully consider the potential ramifications of their vote. Now, though, some of those same lawmakers say none of their constituents seem to care at all, Politico reports.

Naturally, they're now hearing from voters about the novel coronavirus, which looks like it will be the real determining factor in 2020 elections, one way or another. "I've been through a few decades, and I haven't seen anything like this," said Rep. Tom O'Halleran (D-Ariz.) in reference to the amount he hears about the virus. O'Halleran also told Politico the flood of calls he once received about impeachment have stopped.

Others, however, never expected the impeachment attention span to last that long. "I haven't heard about impeachment since the Senate failed to do its job," said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.). "People have moved on before coronavirus."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

Rep. Susan Wild (D-Penn.) said that's the nature of the modern news cycle, emphasizing that she hopes in two months people will be talking about something else again. Read more at Politico.