Chris Wallace: ‘Well-Connected’ Republican Said ‘There’s A 20% Chance’ GOP Will Vote To Remove Trump From Office

Fox News host Chris Wallace claimed on Sunday that a “well-connected” Republican in Washington, D.C. told him “there’s a 20 percent chance” GOP senators will vote in favor of removing President Donald Trump from office following an impeachment trial.

Wallace told acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on Fox News Sunday that he recently “talked to a very well-connected Republican in Washington, someone whose name you would know well, who says that if the House votes to impeach and it gets to a trial in the Senate, there’s now a 20 percent chance enough Republicans would vote with Democrats to impeach the president.”

The Fox News host, whom Trump recently went after, pointed to the high number of House lawmakers from both parties who condemned Trump’s decision to abandon Kurdish fighters in Northern Syria by withdrawing U.S. troops from the region. Wallace also referenced an op-ed from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) in which the Senate majority leader heavily criticized the administration’s latest military policy.

“That’s just absurd,” Mulvaney said of Wallace’s claim after the Fox News host asked the acting chief of staff if he was worried about Trump losing Republican support. “The comment about the 20 percent is just a person who clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

Mulvaney also dismissed Wallace’s claim about the Senate potentially removing Trump by citing his popularity in swing states.

“The president is extraordinarily popular at home,” said Mulvaney.

McConnell said last month that he would have “no choice” but to hold a trial in the Senate if the House voted to impeach Trump, an effort that seems increasingly likely. Many recent polls have also shown there is high public support to impeach the president. However, an impeachment vote in the Senate would not necessarily entail Trump would be removed from office. Some pundits have speculated that the Senate’s best option to impeach Trump would likely be to hold a vote via secret ballot.

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