House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) told California Democrats that President Trump is a “profound threat to democracy” at the party’s fall nominating convention Saturday in Long Beach, California. But he notably emphasized that the way to remove him from office is voting.
With Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” playing as he entered, Schiff was greeted by the party faithful with lengthy cheers and applause.
“You will forgive me if I’m a bit exhausted, it’s been an eventful week,” he deadpanned. “But you’ll forgive me also if I begin on a more somber note than is traditional to begin a convention. Our democracy is at risk, more so now than at any time in my life.”
Schiff, who chairs the panel leading the impeachment hearings, told the crowd the most profound threat to democracy is not from Russia or China. “The greatest threat to the life and the health of our democracy comes from within,” he said, describing Trump as someone who admires strongmen, but doesn’t respect the Constitution.
“There is nothing more dangerous than a president who believes he is above the law,” said the congressman, who represents part of Los Angeles County.
Yet he did not look to the impeachment process as the solution, but rather to the party members gathered in front of him. “This is a time of great peril, but because of you and millions of activists like you, it’s a time of great promise,” he said.
“We will send that charlatan in the White House back to the golden throne he came from,” Schiff said. “And you know why? Because we vote. How do we build another big, beautiful wave? We vote.”
“Your activism is the engine of the Democratic Party,” he told the cheering crowd. “And your vote is going to save our country.”
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