Amid the growing talk on Capitol Hill of impeachment, talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh suggested Democrats would be happy to have Vice President Mike Pence take over the Oval Office.
"Now, they'll take Pence in there any day. Pence, in their mind, is a conservative Republican. They think they'll roll over him inside of two weeks," Limbaugh told his listeners recently.
Limbaugh said Pence is much more acceptable to Democrats than Trump.
"Pence, at least, is a governor. You can make a greater claim that he comes from their side of the tracks — and as a good conservative, he's very happy to lose," he said.
"In their minds — I'm not saying that describes Pence — that's how they see him," Limbaugh continued. "They think they can roll Pence and send him packing inside of a year. They think they can embarrass and humiliate him."
But just as they have relentlessly attacked Trump, Democrats would go after Pence if he became president, Limbaugh said.
"What's Pence gonna be guilty of? He accepted Trump's vice presidency! The next thing they're gonna go after: What did Pence know and when did he know it?
"You think they're gonna just sit there and let Pence become president and do nothing about it? Unless they get polling data say that Pence will get them the House back and Pence will get them the White House in 2020, then they'll leave him there."
What do YOU think? Who is most deserving of impeachment? Sound off in today's WND poll!
He said, nevertheless, the attacks on Trump are "purely personal."
"They cannot permit Trump to improve the economy. They cannot permit Trump to make the nation more secure. They cannot permit Trump to win in international conflicts. They cannot permit it! It must not happen," Limbaugh said.
"Every victory Trump has is just another sign of how useless and phony the establishment is."
Limbaugh said Trump doesn't seem to understand how he's perceived.
"Apparently, Trump really thought firing Comey would quiet the Democrats down," he said.
Limbaugh said that if it's true, as a Politico report alleges, that Trump is surprised that the Russia controversy is still going on, then he "doesn't have anybody around him who can honestly tell him what he's up against."
Related stories:
25 'impeachable' Obama scandals far more serious than Comey firing
McCarthy on calls for Trump impeachment: Obama did worse protecting Hillary
'Oh, puh-lease!' CNN anchor has meltdown on Trump supporter
'Why vote Republican?'
On May 2, Limbaugh interviewed Pence about the budget compromise in Congress, expressing disappointment in Republican leadership for giving in to Democrat demands.
"If this is what happens, Mr. Vice President, why vote Republican? What is the point of voting Republican if the Democrats are gonna continue to win practically 95 percent of their objectives, such as in this last budget deal?" Limbaugh said.
Pence replied: "Well, look, respectfully, Rush, I actually think this was, as the president said a little a while ago, I think this was actually a clear win for the American people. Look, you’ve had Washington, D.C., that has been, you know, paralyzed by gridlock and partisan infighting for many years, and in this new president you have someone who was able to bring people together and make a $21 billion increase in defense spending at a time of great challenge for America’s interests around the world."
Limbaugh said there "isn’t anything of the president’s agenda in this budget, and people are beginning to ask, when’s that gonna happen?"
"If you’re gonna shut it down in September, why not now?" he asked.
Rush, let me be real clear," Pence said. "The number one priority of President Trump is to rebuild our military, to restore the arsenal of democracy. And I gotta tell you, to get Democrats in Washington, D.C., to agree to a $21 billion increase in a short-term budget bill — and, you know, the president’s calling for the largest increase in military spending since the Reagan administration in the upcoming budget, I think is no small — it's no small accomplishment.
'The president must be impeached'
After a New York Times report Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, alleged Trump pressed FBI Director James Comey to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Democrats on Capitol Hill ramped up the calls for impeachment.
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said at a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting Wednesday morning that Trump is a national security liability and must be removed now. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, said on the House floor Wednesday he is taking a "position of conscience."
"This is where I stand; I will not be moved,” said Green. "The president must be impeached."
On his show Wednesday, Limbaugh accused the Democrats and establishment media of projection, recalling President Obama's insistence last year that Hillary Clinton committed no crime regarding her dissemination of classified information on a personal email server and James Comey's decision not to refer charges against Clinton to the Justice Department despite the evidence he presented to the public.
"So if anybody's been working together here to clear a perp, it is James Comey and Barack Obama in April and through July of 2016 — and since that is what happened, the Democrats and the media are now projecting on Donald Trump that which they did," Limbaugh said. "And they are accusing him of wanting to do what they did and claiming that Trump's desire and effort to try to do this constitutes obstruction of justice and is thus an impeachable offense.
"And yet at this very moment, nobody can detail for any of us a single crime Trump has committed, other than winning an election that he was supposed to lose in a landslide, unseating the popular (snorts) Hillary Clinton, whose turn it was — and who openly, in his inaugural address, threatened the Washington establishment and told them their days were over," said Limbaugh.
"There's no mystery why we are here today. It's been one of the easiest thing to predict."
On his show Tuesday, Limbaugh said there is "an ongoing effort to sabotage Trump personally, politically, professionally."
"And this sabotage is occurring from within the government and perhaps even from within the Trump administration. It is being aided and abetted by the establishment media."
In October, just weeks before Trump was elected, the Hill ran a column by Baltimore attorney Aron Raskas headlined "Want Mike Pence? No problem — elect Trump then impeach him."
"There is yet another path for Republican leaders who would welcome a Pence presidency as an alternative to a Trump administration," Raskas wrote. "While removing Mr. Trump from the head of the ticket at this late date is procedurally unworkable, the Republican establishment could make clear to the electorate that, if the Republican ticket is elected, Mr. Trump would promptly be removed.