Donald Trump became only the third U.S. president in history to be impeached Wednesday night and, of course, it didn’t take him long to do what he does best: Tweet about it.
In a series of tweets, the embattled president—who was impeached on two articles, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress—railed at Democrats and praised Republicans, who stood in complete unison behind Trump.
“100% Republican Vote. That’s what people are talking about. The Republicans are united like never before!” he tweeted.
“The Senate shall set the time and place of the trial,” Trump wrote in another tweet. “If the Do Nothing Democrats decide, in their great wisdom, not to show up, they would lose by Default!”
He also tweeted, “PRESIDENTIAL HARASSMENT!”
While the 45th President, who could become the first president in history to be re-elected after being impeached, throws his expected temper tantrum, the next steps in this impeachment saga is unclear.
As ESSENCE previously reported, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to tell reporters at the Capitol yesterday when—or if—the articles of impeachment will be sent to the Republican controlled Senate to be adjudicated. This is an apparent bid to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) to lay out bipartisan trial rules that are not biased in favor of Trump, Politico reports.
“So far we haven’t seen anything that looks fair to us,” Pelosi told reporters after the vote. “That would’ve been our intention, but we’ll see what happens over there.”
Pelosi has not yet moved to name impeachment managers, members of the House who would appear before the Senate during the trial and share findings from their impeachment inquiry, CNBC.com reports. The trial was expected to take place in January, but the ball is in Pelosi’s court.
“This is what I don’t consider a fair trial,” she told reporters. “That leader McConnell has stated that he’s not an impartial juror, that he’s going to take his cues, in quotes, from the White House, and he’s working in total coordination with the White House counsel’s office.”
It is highly unlikely that a Republican controlled Senate will remove Trump, who has called the impeachment a “witch hunt” and a “lynching,” from office. To that end, he has said previously that he wanted to get the trial over with quickly. Now that Pelosi has pressed pause, the White House responded.
“House Democrats have run a fatally flawed process with fake facts, and now they want to deny the President his day in court with another procedural maneuver that proves anew they have no case,” Eric Ueland, Trump’s top congressional liaison to Congress, said.
While conversations about the point of it all—if Trump is impeached, but there is no adjudicating of the articles—have begun, Democrats are trying to control the narrative and keep it simple: One thing at a time.
“The only thing that matters is the president of the United States was impeached today,” said Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. As for the Senate? “One step at a time.”