Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said President Obama is “getting perilously close” to meriting impeachment this week, joining the growing group of conservatives who are flirting with pushing out the president to appease radical fringes of the party.
“I think those are serious things, but we’re in serious times,” Coburn said when asked about impeachment at a town hall. “And I don’t have the legal background to know if that rises to ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ but I think you’re getting perilously close.”
“I am fed up. I am frustrated,” Coburn said to the cheering crowd, echoing his last Morning Joe appearance when he called Congress the “kindergarten of Washington.”
With Congress on August recess, Republican congressmen are flirting with birtherism and calls for impeachment as they respond to furious, polarized constituents.
Michigan Republican Rep. Kerry Bentivolio said it would be a “dream come true” to write a bill impeaching Obama.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz dodged the question. “Why don’t we impeach him [Obama]?” Cruz said. “It’s a good question… and I’ll tell you the simplest answer: To successfully impeach a president you need the votes in the U.S. Senate.” When a constituent told Texas’ Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold she was concerned by “the fraudulent birth certificate of Barack Obama,” he said he feared a failed attempt at impeachment would reinforce the president’s supposed transgressions. “What message do we send to America if we impeach Obama and he gets away with what he’s impeached for and is found innocent? What do we say then is okay,” he said.
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