As lawmakers voted Wednesday to officially impeach the president, he said Democratic support for the move was an “eternal mark of shame”: “They’re the ones who should be impeached.”

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Shortly before the House of Representatives crossed the vote threshold needed to impeach President Donald Trump, making him the third president in U.S. history to face a Senate trial, Trump climbed on stage here to the roar of his fans for a historic split-screen evening.

“It doesn’t really feel like we’re being impeached. The country is doing better than ever before, we did nothing wrong, and we have tremendous support in the Republican Party like we’ve never had before,” Trump said in remarks that lasted more than two hours — his longest rally speech ever — offering one line of defense after another from a stage adorned with Christmas decorations.

“Tonight, the House Democrats are trying to nullify the ballots of tens of millions of patriotic Americans,” he continued, later saying his predecessor, President Barack Obama, should have been the one facing that penalty. “Why didn’t the Republicans impeach him?” he asked.

Trump accused Democrats of “declaring their deep hatred and disdain for the American voter” and characterized their support for his impeachment as an “eternal mark of shame”: “They have nothing. They’re the ones who should be impeached, every one of them.”

Trump — who delayed the scheduled start of his remarks by an hour to watch the tail end the House debate over articles of impeachment — took the stage as the chamber started voting on the measures Wednesday night. White House officials had described Trump as in “disbelief” and “prepared for war” as the day began, something he repeatedly made clear on Twitter, sending dozens of tweets and retweets from his account as the House debated. Read more

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