House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) acknowledged that House Republicans are now drafting articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden for halting the shipment of additional offensive weapons — including artillery shells and bombs for fighter jets — to Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to invade the city of Rafah, which the U.S. has advised against. Biden called the potential invasion of Rafah “the red line.”
[The Biden administration has been pressuring Israel to do more to protect civilians in Gaza and to ensure more humanitarian aid can be delivered there.]
When Scalise was asked on Fox News, “On what grounds would you impeach President Biden?” he accused the President of “walking away from our strongest ally in the Middle East.”
can't make it up — with Comer's investigation fizzled out, Steve Scalise says House Republicans are now drafting articles of impeachment against Biden for not supporting Israel staunchly enough. Note that even Varney is skeptical. pic.twitter.com/BN4lKKPSWu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 10, 2024
Fox News conservative political pundit Stuart Varney asked Scalise, “Is it a high crime and misdemeanor to walk away from a big ally? What’s the crime?”
Scalise didn’t name Biden’s purported crime, instead answering: “What we want to do is get President Biden to actually go and deliver that aid.”
Varney pressed the case: “But you have to impeach him for that?” Scalise replied: “No, there’s legislation that we are drafting that actually requires him to deliver the aid.”
(Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) is reportedly prepping articles of impeachment against President Biden for abuse of power.)
[Addressing Biden’s alleged “walking away” from Israel at The Bulwark, Air Force veteran Will Selber, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote: “President Biden’s recent decision to limit ‘offensive weapons’ to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) may be a mistake, but he’s not abandoning them. He’s simply saying they must not use certain weapons or fight the war the way they did in the opening stages of the conflict.”]
Note: In the fall, Scalise and then-new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) passed legislation in the House which tied Israel aid to cuts in IRS enforcement. As seen below on ABC News This Week, Scalise — who didn’t always assert that Biden is against Israel — said that if the bill passed the Senate, “I have no doubt that the President would sign the bill because it gives Israel the aid they need.” The bill was DOA on arrival at the Senate.
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