Trump should be impeached, Democrats (mostly) agree at the debate

With a dozen candidates onstage in what is likely the largest presidential debate ever, the Democrats seeking the White House in 2020 pretty much agreed: Congress should pursue President Trump for impeachment.

“Impeachment is the way that we establish that this man cannot be permitted to break the law over and over again without consequences,� Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said. “It’s about the next president, and the next president, and the next president.�

Politics

Full coverage of the October Democratic debate guide

The 12 top Democratic presidential candidates sharply criticized each other over healthcare, gun control and anti-trust policy on the Ohio stage where they met for the fourth Democratic primary debate.

Oct. 16, 2019

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said allegations that Trump had withheld aid from Ukraine in exchange for investigating former Vice President Joe Biden’s family were “beyond comprehension.�

Biden himself, one of the last candidates to say Trump should be impeached, said Congress had “no choice but to begin an impeachment proceeding.�

Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a former prosecutor, said of Trump: “I know a confession when I see it,� adding that “he is the most corrupt and unpatriotic president we’ve ever had.�

The one candidate who sounded somewhat uncertain was Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii. She said that “if impeachment is driven by these hyper-partisan interests, it will only further divide� the nation. She said she supported the opening of an inquiry in the House, but if Trump is impeached in the House but the Senate fails to remove him from office, Trump will walk away feeling “exonerated.�

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Biden defended his son Hunter Biden’s controversial decision to accept a position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while he himself was vice president and handling Ukrainian policy issues.

“My son did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong,� Biden said, adding that he never spoke to his son about Ukrainian issues while in office. “I carried out the policy of the United States government in rooting out corruption in Ukraine, and that’s what we should be focusing on.�