Joe Biden Warned Against the Dangers of Partisan Impeachment in 1998

Joe Biden had a very different philosophy about impeachment back in 1998. During a speech he delivered on the Senate floor, Biden repeatedly warned against exactly what Democrats are doing to President Trump in 2019:

Biden echoed concerns from the Founding Fathers:

“Any process whereby the Legislative Branch – the branch they deemed the most dangerous – could sit in judgement of a president who would be vulnerable to the abuse of partisan factions.”

Biden again references the Founders regarding the dangers of impeachment:

“Instead of them writing about, warning about the abuse of power by the president requiring impeachment, they wrote about and were concerned about and more debate was conducted about the abuse of power by political factions in the Legislative Branch to overturn the will of the American people.”

Biden highlights the potential issues with impeaching a president over policy disputes or losing an election:

“The framers were fully aware that the impeachment process could become partisan attacks on the president, charged with animosities generated by all manner of prior struggle and disagreements over Executive Branch decisions, over policy disputes, over resentment at losing the prior election, and God only knows what else.”

All of the concerns Joe Biden highlighted so passionately in 1998 are playing themselves out before our eyes. Democrats refuse to accept the result of the 2016 election, and they’re trying to use the Legislative Branch to overturn the will of the people.