Rep. Al Green says impeachment push 'will march on'
Texas Democrat Rep. Al Green claims President Trump is causing harm to society and says he will bring additional articles of impeachment if necessary.
Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, discussed his efforts to impeach President Trump Thursday, the day after the House of Representatives voted to set aside Green's resolution for the third time since Trump took office.
Lawmakers voted to table the impeachment resolution by 332-95 after it was publicly opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top Democrats, who felt the move was premature.
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"It was not a failure," Green said on "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "We had 58 votes the first time, 66 the second time and nearly 100 the third time. And I have said consistently that this is a process, and the process continues. In the Negro national anthem we have the words, 'march on until victory is won.' We will march on."
Host Neil Cavuto challenged Green for trying to make race the central issue to his impeachment push. Green responded by comparing his proposal to the impeachment of former President Andrew Johnson. Johnson was impeached in 1868 over disagreements about the course of Reconstruction of the South following the Civil War as well as Johnson's dismissal of Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War.
"[Johnson] was impeached because he spoke ill of Congress. Mr. Johnson, Andrew Johnson, 1868," Green said. "I beg that people would read article ten of the articles of impeachment."
"I actually have, sir," Cavuto answered. "The reason why I mentioned it is -- [Trump] was speaking out against Congress. You're quite right about that. But you let that morph into a racial thing, and that's why your colleagues say, even though some of them were kind of pushing impeachment themselves down the road, they couldn't pounce on this because there was nothing there."
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Green then said the impeachment of Johnson, whom Green described as a "bigot," was racially charged and should be considered precedent.
"But that was not what the impeachment was about, and you know that," Cavuto replied. Green then claimed Trump's actions were harmful to society and cited the Federalist Papers as the pillar upon which his argument rests.
"Mr. Trump, he has said things that are inciteful ... You have to cause harm to society [to be impeached], so he's causing harm to society pursuant to the Federalist Papers," he said. "If the president continues to do harm to society with his inciteful and hateful rhetoric then he will be impeached. A president can be impeached for this. As a matter of fact, the president could have been impeached last night."
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Cavuto said if Green planned to go after everyone in Washington who espoused "hateful rhetoric," there'd be no one left to go after.
"The president happens to have quite a bully pulpit and the president gives us inciteful language against specific people," Green replied. "Just last night, what happened was horrible, it was horrific and the president should back off."
Green walked off an earlier interview with CNN's Kate Bolduan Thursday after she asked if his impeachment strategy had backfired.
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"The speaker and I have the same goal and that’s to do what’s in the best interests of our country. We have different paths but the same goal and I must tell you, I have a vote that’s on now and I must leave,” Green replied.
“I do appreciate you very much, but I do have to run now. Thank you."
Fox News' Brian Flood and Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report.