A longtime GOP political consultant made a stunning claim on Wednesday that "30" Republican senators would vote to impeach President Trump if there was a secret ballot.

Mike Murphy, a former advisor to John McCain and Mitt Romney, appeared on MSNBC and began by claiming that Trump's alleged misconduct was "much clearer" in the transcript of the president's conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky than the Mueller report and that a direct "quid pro quo" wasn't necessary, calling it a "classic shakedown."

"I'm telling you -- these Senate Republicans, should the Democrats vote impeachment… are going to be pinned down to a yes-no answer,” Murphy told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell. “And if they provide cover for Donald Trump for this, a clear violation of his role as president, we’re going to lose Colorado with Cory Gardner. We’re going to lose Maine with Susan Collins. We’re going to lose Arizona with Martha McSally. And the Democrats will put the Senate very much in play.”

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Murphy predicted that the politics will become "worse and worse" for Trump, which will push GOP lawmakers towards impeachment. He then claimed that dozens of Republicans are secretly on board with impeachment.

"I can tell you this... one Republican senator told me if it was a secret vote, 30 Republican senators would vote to impeach Trump," Murphy claimed.

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced a formal impeachment inquiry, saying "the president must be held accountable" for his "betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections."

Invoking the "darkest days of the American Revolution," Pelosi called on lawmakers to honor their constitutional oath to protect the country "from all enemies, foreign and domestic."

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"This week, the president has admitted to asking the president of Ukraine to take actions which would benefit him politically," Pelosi said. "Therefore, today, I'm announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I'm directing our six committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella.

"The president must be held accountable," she continued. "No one is above the law."