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Dem Rep Who Called for Trump's Impeachment Denies Calling for Trump's Impeachment

January 8, 2018

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) appeared on MSNBC on Monday to talk about a bill he proposed that would establish a commission to determine whether the president is fit for office.

Raskin denied the bill had to do with President Donald Trump, even though Raskin has called for his impeachment before.

"It's not a body devoted to looking at Donald Trump's fitness for office," Raskin said.

MSNBC anchor Katy Tur had a follow-up, however.

"Here's the thing, congressman. You want to impeach this president. You've said so," Tur said.

"No, I haven't—when did I say that?" Raskin asked, clearly flustered.

"You've said you wanted to impeach the president," Tur reiterated before reading off examples.

Tur mentioned that Raskin opposed the vote to ratify the presidential election results and that last January, before President Trump's inauguration, Raskin floated the idea of impeaching him:

Raskin deflected this by saying, "I think the media is conflating impeachment and the 25th Amendment."

The 25th Amendment is the justification for Raskin's bill that would establish a commission judging presidential fitness. When asked if he believes Trump is incapacitated, Raskin dodged again.

Later on in the interview, Raskin did note that Trump's critics have "raised questions" about his mental fitness. He claimed that his bill would create oversight that was, therefore, necessary.