Yesterday, this happened:
Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke, who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz, said Tuesday that he President Donald Trump's performance at a summit with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin merits impeachment.
And he blasted Cruz for failing to denounce Trump, who shocked U.S. intelligence and law enforcement by taking the former KGB spy chief's word that Russia did not meddle in the 2016 election.
Last week, the Justice Department issued indictments against a dozen Russian military intelligence officers for doing just that.
"Standing on stage in another country with the leader of another country who wants to and has sought to undermine this country, and to side with him over the United States -- if I were asked to vote on this I would vote to impeach the president," O'Rourke, a three-term congressman from El Paso, said in response to a question from The Dallas Morning News. "Impeachment, much like an indictment, shows that there is enough there for the case to proceed and at this point there is certainly enough there for the case to proceed."
And of course, Ted Cruz went apeshit:
"Rep. Beto O'Rourke is so radical and reckless that he is unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate," said Cruz campaign spokesman Emily Miller. "O'Rourke's extremist views on impeaching the President of the United States put him in the fringe of the liberal movement -- even to the left of Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. His calls for impeachment may win him big donors in Hollywood, but it doesn't reflect the reasonable views of the vast majority of Texans."
The exchange came a day after Trump came under fire from leaders in both parties for comments he made after a summit in Helsinki, Finland, that appeared to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's denials about meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump sought to walk back those comments on Tuesday, saying that he misspoke.
Cruz was among those who initially criticized Trump's remarks, telling CNN on Monday that "It's a mistake to be apologizing for Vladimir Putin." But Cruz has otherwise defended Trump and, like many Republicans in Congress, emphasized that that Russian aggression must be confronted.
Some people might think this was a risky move on Beto’s end to call for impeachment. But as The Nation points out, Beto knows what he’s doing:
O’Rourke refused to play the DC-insider game of condemning the president’s words while avoiding the bigger issue of checking and balancing the president’s neglect of dangers to democracy.
Cruz and his partisan cabal may complain about Trump — this week the senator was mumbling about how “I think it’s a mistake to be apologizing for Vladimir Putin…” But, as O’Rourke explained to The Dallas Morning News, “I heard him talk about Russia but I did not hear him say a word about the president’s conduct.”
That criticism can be leveled at prominent Republicans and Democrats, most of whom avoid serious discussion of how errant presidents are supposed to be checked and balanced.
What distinguishes O’Rourke is his understanding of the Constitution, and of the duties the founding document imposes on members of the House. Those members are not charged with removing the president from office. They are charged, in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 5, with making a determination about whether the accountability process should proceed.
After what has transpired since Trump took office a year and a half ago, only bleary-eyed partisans would imagine that Trump should remain above and beyond congressional scrutiny, or that impeachment should be “off the table” until it is politically convenient.
“Impeachment, much like an indictment, shows that there is enough there for the case to proceed,” says O’Rourke, “and at this point there is certainly enough there for the case to proceed.”
To be fair, Beto hasn’t shied away from impeachment talk in the past. Here’s what Beto said back in April:
Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), who is running for Sen. Ted Cruz's (R-Texas) seat in November, said Monday he’s seen enough evidence that he would vote to impeach President Trump.
“I’ve seen an attempt, no matter how ham-handed, to collude with a foreign government in our national election. I’ve seen an effort to obstruct justice in the investigation of what happened in the 2016 election,” O’Rourke said on KFYO radio in Lubbock when asked if he thought there was enough evidence to call for the impeachment of the president.
The Democratic lawmaker blasted Trump as lacking the “fitness, or competence or judgment” to serve as president.
He said, however, that an impeachment vote should wait until special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election fully plays out.
“We are not there yet. So I’m going to stay focused on the issues that we can make a difference on right now,” O’Rourke said.
Beto is showing boldness here and he deserves our support all the way. Let’s make Cruz pay for standing by the Traitor-In-Chief. Click here to donate and get involved with Beto’s campaign.