Two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, expressed opposing views this week on whether the House of Representatives should vote to impeach U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland for his actions or lack thereof while in office.
These comments followed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) suggestion that Garland could face impeachment if whistleblowers from the Internal Revenue Service alleged that he obstructed justice in the criminal investigation of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
During an interview with Fox News on Monday, McCarthy threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Attorney General Jeff Sessions if the claims made by an IRS whistleblower turned out to be true.
When Trump was asked on Monday’s episode of “The Howie Carr Show” whether he believed Garland should be impeached, he declined to offer an opinion.
“Well, I’m gonna leave that up to them,” Trump replied, referring to the Republican-controlled House. “Even though I knew Merrick Garland to be a liberal, I was taken aback by his comments. But I was under the impression that he wouldn’t… I can’t believe he’s acting the way he is. To be honest, I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned anything along the lines of ‘Look, I have an obligation to my country.’ If he only completed 10%, it would still be a monumental achievement. But he’s only covering for Biden, and it’s too late to save them.”
Fox News asked DeSantis on Tuesday if he supported the Republican plans to impeach Garland “because some Republicans believe the Justice Department has been using its resources to attack a political adversary,” to which DeSantis answered in the affirmative.
“I mean, if a cabinet member acts like Garland, they’re just asking for it. Therefore, I believe they should continue down this path,” DeSantis stated. “To put it bluntly, I think some of the decisions that have been made, or the lack of action, you know, are just unbelievable that this could be the case.”