Beto O'Rourke: We Must Impeach Trump Because of a Painting I Saw One Time

Beto O’Rourke has not had a great night. The former Representative from Texas has a lot of things going for him: height, looks, and a generally pleasing demeanor, but on a crowded debate stage Wednesday night he crumpled, struggling to adequately answer moderators’ questions and articulate any concrete plans or policies without devolving into vague platitudes and anecdotes (in two languages!). One example of this: O’Rourke’s answer to anchor Chuck Todd’s question as to how he would, as president, address the “potential crimes that were outlined” in the Mueller report, given Democratic leadership’s reluctance to begin impeachment proceedings.

“Yes, and I’ll tell you why.” O’Rourke began. And then, well. Huh. Then he said this:

One of the most powerful pieces of art in the U.S. Capitol is the Trumbull painting of General George Washington resigning his commission to the Continental Congress at the height of his power submitting to the rule of law and the will of the people. That has withstood the test of time for the last 243 years. If we set another precedent now, that a candidate who invited the participation of a foreign power, a president who sought to obstruct the investigation into the invasion of our democracy—if we allow him to get away with this with complete impunity then we will have set a new standard. And that is that some people because of the position of power and public trust that they hold are above the law, and we cannot allow that to stand.

All right. Sure. OK. You want to impeach. You said that, and then you talked about a painting for a bit. Trump is…not George Washington. That is not a good example! This is not what is happening. But anyway. What will you do about it?

So we must begin impeachment now so that we have the facts and the truth and we follow them as far as they go and as high up as they reach and we save this democracy. And if we’ve not been able to do that in this year or the year that follows then under my administration our Department of Justice will pursue these facts and ensure that there are consequences, there is accountability and there is justice, it’s the only way that we save this country.

Great man you coulda just said that part! You didn’t have to talk about the painting! Nobody cares about the painting! If you really care about the painting you can look at it here but man that answer would have completely lost me if I didn’t have to listen to it five times and transcribe it all.