MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi botched two basic facts on Wednesday while trying to explain to his audience "how impeachment works."
With the implication of President Donald Trump in a possible campaign finance violation by his former attorney-turned-admitted-felon Michael Cohen, Velshi explained articles of impeachment first had to be drawn up by any individual congressperson, but NewsBusters noted he went sideways from there.
"Next, the House votes," Velshi said. "At least two-thirds of the chamber has to approve the impeachment – 288 votes, as it’s currently constituted, since there are four vacancies in the House right now. This is a high bar, making many impeachment proceedings a bipartisan effort; neither party can do it on their own."
This was incorrect. Only a simple majority is needed in the House to impeach the president. Only two presidents ever have been: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon faced near-certain impeachment, but he resigned from office before that could occur in 1974.
Next, Velshi correctly said two-thirds of the Senate is needed to convict to remove the president from office, but he said that number would currently be 60. It would actually be 67, since there are 100 Senators in office.
"Once the House approves the articles of impeachment, the matter goes to the Senate, which acts more like a courtroom," he said. "The Senate tries the case and votes, acting as defense, judge, and jury. Again, the threshold is two-thirds, so even half the chamber voting to impeach would still acquit the president. Two-thirds of the Senate, 60 as it stands right now, are needed to vote guilty for impeachment."
After a commercial break, Velshi corrected the record and thanked social media users for pointing out his mistakes.
"Some days we love social media, because a number of you sent me information about something I made a mistake on in the last segment, so I want to correct that real quick. To impeach the president, the House needs only a simple majority, not two-thirds," he said. "The House needs a simple majority. The Senate does need a two-thirds majority, but that would be 67 of the senators, 66 of the senators or 67, someone will help you with the math on that, but the fact is, its two-thirds of 100 senators, depending on how many seats in the Senate are actually filled at any given time."
Velshi usually co-hosts the 11 a.m. hour with Stephanie Ruhle, and they have a segment called "For Fact's Sake."