Ahead of a Thanksgiving break spoiled by looming impeachment, a furious US President Donald Trump vowed to win landslide reelection at a Florida campaign rally on Tuesday.
The rally in Sunrise, located just north of Miami, saw Trump unleash harsh invective against his political foes, calling out Democrats’ “depravity” and claiming that “the failed Washington establishment” is targeting him because he is “exposing a rigged system.”
The attack prompted thousands in the crowd to turn and boo and shout insults at media outlets covering the event.
Democrats in the House seem likely now to impeach Trump on charges that he abused his office by attempting to pressure Ukraine to open a deliberately embarrassing corruption probe of one of his main 2020 Democratic rivals, Joe Biden.
Even if the Republican-dominated Senate acquits him, as expected, that would still make him only the third president ever impeached.
After the rally, Trump was to retreat to his Mar-a-Lago golf resort for the rest of the week, including Thursday’s national Thanksgiving Day holiday.
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee announced that President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing will be scheduled for December 4, starting a new phase of the inquiry that could lead to formal charges against the president within weeks.
House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff presided over two weeks of dramatic public hearings that he said uncovered a “massive amount of evidence” despite efforts to obstruct the investigation by Trump and his administration.
Initially, President Trump described the impeachment probe against him as “witch hunt”, saying he was “too busy” to watch it.
Last month, Trump opposed impeachment enquiry, saying that there should be no public hearings during the House of Representatives’ impeachment enquiry against him, and directed White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney not to appear before the committees investigating Trump’s phone call to Ukraine.
Trump sought to downplay the development, insisting on Twitter that he doesn’t care if his top current and former associates, including his fired national security advisor John Bolton, testify.