Around 200 people rallied in Louisville Tuesday night to demand U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other federal legislators impeach President Donald Trump and remove him from office.
Protesters gathered in front of Louisville Metro Hall chanting “Ditch Mitch” and waving signs that read "Trump is Not Above the Law”. The temperature dipped below freezing, but most people weathered the cold for more than an hour to support impeaching the president. Courier Journal Cartoonist Marc Murphy spoke at the rally, calling on McConnell to vote Trump out of office.
“We can’t rebuild our highways, we can’t build our schools that are falling apart because we’ve got to spend our time dealing with a party and a man who have taken the law into their own hands,” Murphy said. “If this president isn’t impeached, then [patriots before us] would have died in vain, and government of the people, by the people and for the people will have perished from the face of the earth.”
The Louisville rally was one of more than 600 events across the nation Tuesday that were organized by the nonprofit MoveOn — a progressive organization that campaigns and advocates for national issues through nonpartisan education and political lobbying. The group organized the rallies to demand lawmakers impeach and remove Trump, who is being tried for two articles of impeachment: abuse of power, and obstruction of Congress. The full House is expected to vote Wednesday to impeach Trump, but that would not mean he must leave office. Trump can remain president after impeachment if fewer than two-thirds of the Republican-led Senate votes to impeach him.
Bryan Svoboda, 47, says he's a member of the far-right group The Three Percenters and was counter-protesting on Tuesday. He said the impeachment proceedings have been one-sided.
“It’s not a bipartisan effort,” Svoboda said. “I don’t believe they’re going to impeach [Trump], Mitch McConnell already said it’s pretty much DOA (dead on arrival).”
Patty Kannapel, 65, is unsure there will be a fair impeachment trial, but she said McConnell could make an impact.
“This is his moment to really go down in history as being a great statesman, and making sure that we have a fair trial and hear all the evidence,” Kannapel said.
McConnell has said he will work in “total coordination with the White House counsel” through the impeachment process, and told reporters Tuesday that the impeachment is a political process in which he is not an impartial juror.
