President Trump on Saturday lashed out at congressional Democrats, calling them “Do Nothing Democrat Savages” as more lawmakers come out in favor of an impeachment inquiry over the president’s dealings with Ukraine.
Trump in a tweet went after two House committee chairmen, Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), as well as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressive lawmakers who have been vocal critics of his administration.
“Can you imagine if these Do Nothing Democrat Savages, people like Nadler, Schiff, AOC Plus 3, and many more, had a Republican Party who would have done to Obama what the Do Nothings are doing to me,” he tweeted. “Oh well, maybe next time!”
Trump’s tweet comes days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into the president. Nearly all House Democrats have publicly backed the inquiry, though about a dozen have yet to endorse it.{mosads}
Support for the move ramped up following revelations this week that Trump had urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to look into former Vice President Joe Biden and had temporarily held up aid for the country over the summer.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, saying he held up the aid because he wanted other countries to contribute more to Ukraine’s defense, while Democrats argue the move amounted to the president seeking help from a foreign power against a political rival.
The White House released a memo of the July call between the presidents in which Trump encouraged Zelensky to look into Biden, the Democratic presidential front-runner.
Schiff and Nadler lead the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees, respectively, and have battled the administration while seeking more details on the president’s Ukraine efforts.
Nadler responded to Trump’s tweet, in a post that said “Don’t let the President change the subject.”
“He got caught soliciting a foreign leader for help with his campaign at the expense of U.S. national security. Again,” he added.
Ocasio-Cortez didn’t respond directly, but joked that “it should really be @AyannaPressley plus 3 since she is *easily* the best singer out of all of us.”
While many Republicans have yet to weigh in regarding the impeachment inquiry, one GOP lawmaker has expressed support for investigating the allegations over Ukraine.
Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said on a call with reporters Friday that he was a “big fan of oversight, so let’s let the committees get to work and see where it goes.” The GOP lawmaker stressed that he was not in favor of impeaching Trump.
Others, including Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Steve Scalise (R-La.), have defended Trump and criticized the inquiry.