Fox’s Chris Wallace said a “well-connected” Washington Republican told him that there’s a 20 percent chance enough Republicans will vote to remove President Trump from office in an impeachment trial in the Senate.
Wallace mentioned his source’s comments during an interview with acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on “Fox News Sunday.”
Wallace cited an overwhelming House vote criticizing the president’s policies in Syria and an op-ed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) slamming Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from that country.
He then said he had “talked to a very well-connected Republican in Washington, someone whose name you would know well, who says that if the House votes to impeach and it gets to a trial in the Senate, there’s now a 20 percent chance enough Republicans would vote with Democrats to impeach the president.”
The Fox anchor then asked Mulvaney if he was concerned about the president losing GOP support.
“That’s just absurd,” Mulvaney said. “The comment about the 20 percent is just a person who clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
The acting chief of staff added that Trump knew his decision to withdraw troops from Syria would be controversial and wouldn’t be “politically popular.”
“The president is extraordinarily popular at home,” Mulvaney said, emphasizing his likability in swing states.
Polls from most swing states show Trump under water with an approval rating well below 50 percent.
When Wallace said he was referring to GOP lawmakers distancing themselves from the president, Mulvaney responded, “They have to go home eventually as well.”
Trump decided earlier this month to remove troops from Syria, which led to a Turkish invasion of northern Syria.
The decision sparked bipartisan backlash, with Republicans saying it had stabbed Kurdish allies now fighting with Turkey in the back while giving new leverage to ISIS, Russia and the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Polls have indicated support for impeachment has grown since Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced an inquiry last month, with multiple polls over the past two weeks showing that a majority of respondents supported the impeachment of Trump.
But it’s still considered highly unlikely that many Republicans would back Trump’s impeachment.