Undeterred by impeachment proceedings Trump says he is winning

U.S. President Donald Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump

WASHINGTON: Undeterred by the initiation of impeachment proceedings against him, Donald Trump has warned Americans that the country will head towards unprecedented “depression” if he is not re-elected in the 2020 US presidential elections. Addressing a Republican Party rally in Louisiana on Wednesday, Trump told thousands of his supporters that he is winning again.

“We are winning. We are winning like never before. The best is yet to come,” Trump told his supporters at the rally ahead of the election of the Louisiana governor, a day after his Republican Party received a drubbing in several state and local elections. Trump asserted that America’s economy under his presidency is booming. He warned that the country will be headed towards depression if he is not re-elected in the 2020 polls. “You will have a depression the likes of which you have never seen before,” he warned.

While his administration is delivering to the Americans, Trump alleged that the “radical liberal Democrats are trying to rip the nation apart.” Describing it as a “impeachment witch-hunt,” Trump spent the initial part of his remarks to criticise the Democrats and the impeachment inquiry. He also singled out the whistleblower who he said made a “horrible statement” about his phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Earlier on Wednesday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff announced that on November 13 the first open hearings as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump would begin.

Trump, a Republican, is accused of trying to pressure Ukraine into investigating unsubstantiated corruption claims against his political rival, Joe Biden, and his son who worked with Ukrainian gas company Burisma. On Wednesday, the Committee will hear from Ambassador William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary George Kent. Taylor currently serves as the Charge D’affaires for the State Department in Ukraine. Kent serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at the Department of State.

The Committee on November 15 will hear from former Ambassador Marie “Masha” Yovanovitch. Until May 2019, Yovanovitch served as the US Ambassador to Ukraine.

Trump accused the Democrats of pursuing a “deranged, delusional, destructive and hyper-partisan impeachment witch hunt.” A brief mention of former secretary of state Hillary Clinton caused “lock her up” chants from the crowd. She had contested against Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

The president also spoke about building the wall at the southern border, the successful military operation against deceased ISIS leader Abu Bakr-al Baghdadi, and the strength of the US economy.