Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney grilled House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) over members of the Republican conference demanding that Joe Biden be impeached for threatening to withhold some aid to Israel.
Biden said in a CNN interview this week that the US would no longer supply offensive weapons to Israel if it proceeds with a full-scale invasion of Rafah.
Rep. Cory Mills, a freshman Republican congressman from Florida is reportedly working on drafting articles of impeachment against Biden, falsely conflating the president’s decision with the Ukraine quid pro quo that led to Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
“On what grounds would you impeach President Biden?” Varney asked Scalise on Friday, according to a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
“President Biden is failing on so many different fronts. But if you look at Israel…what he’s done to Israel, walking away there if our strongest ally in the Middle East is disgraceful,” Scalise responded. “You’ve got Democrats even admitting that. Our main objective is to get Israel the support they need to show that we stand with our ally, Israel.”
“But is it a high crime and misdemeanor to walk away from a big ally?” Varney pressed. “Where’s the crime? Do you have to impeach him for that?”
“No.,” Scalise answered. “There’s legislation that we are drafting that actually requires him to the deliver the aid, because we want Israel to have the tools that they need to defend themselves.”
“He’s siding with the wing of his party that’s out there pulling down American flags on campuses and putting up the Palestinian flag, defacing George Washington’s statue on campuses,” Scalise added. “You look at some of these radicals that are doing this, these anarchists that are doing this, that’s who Joe Biden is trying to appease, and he’s walking away from Israel in the process.”
Biden has condemned pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country that have turned violent and resulted in the destruction of property.
“In America, violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is,” Biden said last week. “It’s against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”
