Donald Trump and allies attack Democratic candidates over impeachment drive

David Jackson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump impeachment inquiry bombshells: new emails and quid pro quo The impeachment inquiry into Trump and Ukraine revealed new information on Wednesday, and some heated exchanges during the hearings.

WASHINGTON – After a day of playing defense on impeachment, President Donald Trump and his allies spent Wednesday night attacking the Democratic presidential candidates and their views – including support for impeachment.

"Democrats Have Been Obsessed With Impeachment from Day 1," said a statement from the "rapid response" arm of Trump's re-election campaign, one of a string of emails, tweets, and texts sent by the president's supporters during the Democratic debate.

At the end, Trump campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the "2020 Democrats were short on solutions and heavy on their unhealthy obsession with taking down President Trump via an illegitimate coup."

In the middle of the proceedings, Trump himself tweeted out his version of the highlights from a critical impeachment hearing earlier in the day, testimony that he said exonerates him.

"That means it's all over," Trump said in the video.

Prior to the debate, Trump tweeted out a news story about poll numbers in Wisconsin.

During the debate in Atlanta, the Democratic candidates for Trump's job cited evidence that he abused power by asking another country, Ukraine, to investigate one of their colleagues, former Vice President Joe Biden.

Why a president can be impeached and remain in office Impeaching a U.S. president might not be the be-all-end-all for their career. We explain why this is the case.

"We have to establish the principle no one is above the law," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. "We have a constitutional responsibility and we need to meet it."

Biden said he has learned one thing from the impeachment hearings: "Donald Trump doesn't want me to be the nominee. That's pretty clear."

Throughout the day and the evening, Trump and his supporters pushed back on testimony from a blockbuster impeachment witness. Ambassador Gordon Sondland said Trump appeared to support the idea of withholding military aid from Ukraine unless it agreed to investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who had business interests in the country.

Trump said he did not know Sondland "very well," and cited the ambassador's testimony that the president told him he did not want a "quid quo pro" from Ukraine over investigating the Bidens.

Trump's campaign stayed busy throughout the debate, emailing and tweeting responses to the various candidates while arguing that the Democratic Party as a whole is backing impeachment for political reasons.

"The Democrat candidates continue to push the Ukraine scam in a desperate attempt to impeach President Donald Trump before he wins reelection in 2020," said a statement from the Republican National Committee.

As for other issues, Trump and the Republicans said Democrats want to raise taxes, increase government regulations, open the nation's borders, promote unlimited abortion rights, and impose climate change controls that will cost U.S. jobs.

At one point, the campaign unit known as the "Trump War Room" tweeted out video of Democratic candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard criticizing some party colleagues. "Our Democratic Party, unfortunately, is not the party that is of, by and for the people," Gabbard said.

The Trump-ites paid particular attention to long-standing Democratic frontrunners Biden, Sen.Elizabeth Warren, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

They also played up attacks on a new contender: South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, whose poll numbers have shot up in the early contest states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Crime is rising, schools are suffering, and police are demoralized in the city Pete Buttigieg has managed for nearly eight years," said an email from the Trump campaign.

For their part, the 2020 Democrats largely defined themselves in opposition to Trump.

"We can deal with Trump's corruption, but we also have to stand up for the working families of this country," said Sanders, the Vermont senator.

Trump's presidency, particularly the impeachment drive, hovered over the debate.

"It may just be me, but maybe the impeachment hearings have left me sapped for this debate," tweeted David Axelrod, a political adviser to President Barack Obama. "Kind of low energy."

Hours before the event, during a tour of an Apple manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas, Trump said he believes impeachment is an effort to defeat him in the 2020 election by Democrats who are angry over his 2016 victory.

"They are trying to take it away because they can't do it fairly," Trump said.