Representative Abigail Spanberger and the “National-Security Democrats” Turn the Tide on Impeachment
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 18 October 2019
⏱️ 23 minutes
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Summary
On September 23rd, Representative Abigail Spanberger joined six other House Democrats—all from swing districts and all veterans of the military, defense, and intelligence communities—in drafting an op-ed in the Washington Post declaring President Trump a threat to the nation. The op-ed signalled a shift in the position of the moderate members of the House Democratic caucus. The day after the Post op-ed ran, the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump. Spanberger joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss divisions within the Party, how Democratic candidates can win in 2020, and the Trump debacles in Ukraine and northern Syria.
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| 1:11.7 | This is the political scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and guests about |
| 1:16.6 | politics. It's Friday, October 18th. I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker. |
| 1:23.6 | On September 23rd, the day before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the start of the impeachment inquiry, |
| 1:29.3 | Representative Abigail Spanberger joined six other moderate freshman Democrats, |
| 1:35.3 | all from swing districts and all veterans of the military defense and intelligence communities, |
| 1:40.3 | to declare that they believed President Trump poses a threat to the nation. |
| 1:46.2 | In an op-ed in the Washington Post, the group wrote that it was Congress's constitutional duty |
| 1:51.8 | to determine whether Trump had pressured the new president of Ukraine to assist him in the 2020 |
| 1:57.4 | election. They emphasized that they did not arrive at this conclusion lightly, but that, quote, |
| 2:03.9 | this flagrant disregard for the law cannot stand. |
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