Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the House impeachment inquiry a "fake scam" that will ultimately help President Donald Trump win reelection in the 2020.

Sanders, who departed from the White House in June, said Sunday in Nashville that Trump is equipped to handle the pressures of the investigation — that he's proven he can stand up to the "negativity and the nastiness" he's seen in the last four years.

Central to the impeachment probe is whether Trump used the threat of withholding military aid to pressure Ukraine's leader to conduct an investigation into Trump's 2020 rival Joe Biden.

Sanders was interviewed Sunday by Democratic strategist James Carville onstage at Politicon, a national politics and media convention held this year in Nashville

Carville, who helped President Bill Clinton win his first presidential campaign and is a longtime ally of the Clintons, said he believed with "absolute certainty" that Trump will be impeached.

"I think that there's one single moral imperative in this country and that is to get rid of Trump," Carville said. "My view is the House Democrats are in a much stronger position than the Senate Republicans."

Sanders pushed back saying that though she believed there should be cooperation, the inquiry should not "even exist."

"I think that the whole thing is a fake scam. I thought the Russia thing was a fake scam and I think this is just more of the same," Sanders said.

"Good luck with that," she said of the impeachment inquiry. "I think the president's done a tremendous job ... accomplished a great deal ... every day to make America safer and more prosperous. It far outweighs some ridiculous scam the House Democrats have cooked up, and I think it is going to ultimately backfire and help the president win reelection."

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Views on White House communications

Amid criticism that the White House has not effectively handled communications over the impeachment inquiry, Carville asked Sanders if she believed Trump naming acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney to head up the communications operations was the right choice.

Mulvaney, Trump's third chief of staff, acknowledged in an Oct. 17 briefing that the Trump administration had held up military aid to Ukraine in exchange for a politically motivated investigation — the first time a White House official conceded Trump set up a quid quo pro scenario. Mulvaney later tried to walk back the statement.

"I think he hates what is happening to the president and the disgrace that is taking place under the House Democrats and the process that we're undergoing," Sanders said, calling Mulvaney a smart and good person.

"I think he'll do a good job putting a good team around him, to make sure that the president is effectively staffed and they have the ability to push back against the ridiculousness that's coming out of Nancy Pelosi," she said.

Sanders on Sunday also used her time on stage to diss Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who has escalated his criticism of Trump in recent weeks — over Ukraine, China, Syria and the impeachment probe.

"I think he's more focused on his own political ambitions, instead of moving the country forward. And I don't think what he's doing is productive or helpful or meaningful," she said.

Civil war over impeachment?

Trump has defended himself against the impeachment inquiry on Twitter, and in September, tweeted remarks evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress made on Fox News that there would be "Civil War-like fracture in this nation from which our country will never heal," if he were to be removed from office.

"Do you think it will perpetuate a civil war if this president is removed," Carville asked Sanders.

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Before she could respond, the crowd cheered with one audience member loudly shouting "Absolutely!"

Carville turned to ask the the crowd if anyone would take up arms to defend Trump, causing louder cheers.

"I would encourage people to defend what makes America special," Sanders said. But she said she and the president are not encouraging violence against anybody.

She went on tout civility in her remarks, saying that young Americans should embrace what they believe in, regardless of the "noise" of the media, critics and those who disagree with their politics.

"Embrace what it is that you believe but don't be mad about it," she said. "You don't have to be angry and yell at other people for what they believe."

Carville used that as an opening to ask Sanders if she thought Trump was a good example of someone who doesn't get angry in politics.

"Do you think he's a role model for people like that?" Carville questioned.

"I think the president is a role model in being a fighter and being willing to stand up and sometimes stand alone even when it's not easy," Sanders said.

Praise for raid that killed ISIS leader

Sanders also commended Trump on the announcement he made Sunday morning that U.S. forces killed terrorist leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a raid over the weekend.

Al-Baghdadi led the extremist organization known as the Islamic State, or ISIS. Trump said he died after fleeing a house into a dead-end tunnel while being chased by U.S. Special Operations commandos in Northwest Syria.

"You saw another example of the president's leadership and commitment to protecting this country," Sanders said at the conference.

Several Tennessee's congressional delegation began weighing in on Sunday, praising U.S. forces for their efforts, including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, who said the raid was a "monumental achievement" and demonstrates the U.S. "remain relentless in pursuing the defeat of ISIS and prevent the rise of another terrorist leader like al Baghdadi."

Blackburn also made a keynote speech at Politicon on Sunday, speaking on the topic of big tech and how that the "convenience and entertainment" of social media has come at the expense of privacy and security.

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.