A leading Democratic organizer has predicted that the impeachment investigation could spell the end for President Donald Trump, by prompting either internal betrayal or forcing the commander in chief to hand the reins over to the vice president.
Jon Cooper, the chairman of the Democratic Coalition, suggested on Sunday that Trump is on very thin ice and—despite his stubborn promises to win re-election in 2020—may not even make it to the next presidential contest.
The White House is currently struggling to fight off allegations that Trump effectively attempted to bribe the Ukrainian government into interfering in the 2020 election by opening an investigation into Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
The accusations spawned a House Democrat-led impeachment investigation into the president, which has produced damaging testimony from a range of senior State Department and National Security Council officials. Public hearings began last week and will recommence Tuesday.
Trump and his allies have sought to undermine the probe and malign witnesses, though each new session produces more damaging information. It now seems a foregone conclusion that he will be impeached a party-line House vote, though remains unlikely that the Republican-controlled Senate will convict him.
Cooper argued that the situation has become so dire that the president may not even be able to see out his full term.
Trump has regularly bragged about his supposedly "very" good health, most recently following an unscheduled weekend check-up.
The two-hour appointment sparked rumors that he could be suffering from ill health, but White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grishman was quick to dismiss such reports, Reuters said.
Asked whether there was a more concerning reason for the check up, Grisham told reporters Sunday, "Absolutely not. He is healthy as can be."
Regardless, Cooper wrote on Twitter, "PREDICTION: Donald Trump will resign from office before he can be impeached, citing health reasons."
In a separate post, Cooper suggested Trump might be in more danger from his own team than outside critics. Vice President Mike Pence, specifically, is "likely" eyeing Trump's spot in the Oval Office, Cooper said.
"Three things to understand about @VP Mike Pence," Cooper wrote. First, he argued that the vice president "knows Trump is a lying, cheating, corrupt, traitorous criminal." In addition, Pence's own ambition make him a dangerous ally to have, Cooper added.
"He'd stab anyone in the back — and I mean ANYONE — to advance his political aspirations," Cooper claimed. "He's likely plotting behind the scenes right now to betray Trump."
Trump's unannounced medical appointment resurrected theories that the president's health is not as good as he says.
Trump sought to allay fears about his health during his presidential campaign, releasing a letter from his long-time personal doctor—Dr. Harold Bornstein—which lauded Trump's "astonishingly excellent" condition and claimed he would "unequivocally" be the healthiest president in history.
Bornstein has since told NBC News that the president wrote the letter himself. In 2017, Bornstein also claimed that Trump aides turned up unannounced at his office and removed files relating to the president.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
