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Trump Has Yet To Address Impeachment Calls

by Kaitlin Kimont

From documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, to legal experts, and even grassroots campaigns, nationwide calls to impeach Donald Trump continue to grab headlines. But, it's unlikely to happen before Inauguration Day, even though efforts to remove him have been strong since the moment it was announced that the 70-year-old real estate mogul would be the the 45th President of the United States. The president-elect has been busy in recent weeks with his controversial Cabinet picks and rescheduling a promised press conference about his plans for his vast business empire to avoid any conflicts of interests with his presidency. But has Trump responded to any of these impeachment calls?

Directly? No, Trump has not responded, unsurprisingly. Indirectly? Perhaps — if you take his avoidance of the calls as an answer, then it's pretty clear that Trump has no plans to step down unless someone makes him. And even then, it's unlikely that it'd be an easy feat. (Romper reached out to Trump's team for comment about calls for the incoming president to be impeached and is awaiting a response.)

In a Tweet yesterday, Trump wrote that many of President Barack Obama's recent statements and "roadblocks" have made his administration's transition more difficult than he had thought.

"Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks," Trump tweeted on Wednesday. "Thought it was going to be a smooth transition -- NOT!"

It's not clear what Trump meant by "roadblocks," but it's no secret that the entire nation has not welcomed the incoming administration with open arms. Trump's team did not immediately respond to a request for clarification about the Tweet.

Perhaps he was referring to Obama's recent statements that the current POTUS would have beat Trump if he could have run for a third term, or perhaps he was responding to the president's call to enforce sanctions against Russia for its reported involvement in hacking the presidential election. Or, perhaps he was referring to the public push-back and what could be perceived as encouragement from Trump's rivals to not sit quiet as Trump takes the Oval Office. Again, it's not clear.

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In reality, it's almost impossible for non-political people to remove a president, especially before he's been sworn into office. Only the House of Representative can begin the process to impeach a sitting president, which will be run by Republicans who mostly side with a lot of Trump's policies and plans for the nation.

An additional hurdle: According to Vanity Fair, no president in history has been "impeached for misdeeds committed prior to taking office." So, because everything that people want to impeach Trump for — like his alleged friendliness with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a $25 million deal to settle various Trump University fraud lawsuits, or all those sexual assault allegations that surfaced in the finals months before Election Day — fell before he officially assumed the mantle of the presidency, it makes the case to impeach him a pointless waiting game.

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After such an unprecedented election and waves of controversy, the calls to impeach Trump aren't unrealistic or unwarranted. Even if it's an unlikely feat, it doesn't appear that either side is going down without a fight.