Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti on Tuesday said Republicans will be energized if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) caves to House Democrats rushing towards impeaching President Donald Trump.
Continetti participated in a panel conversation on MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, where he was asked by host Chuck Todd whether he believed there were risks to the Trump administration, Republicans taunting Democrats towards starting an impeachment inquiry.
"There's certainly risk because starting an impeachment inquiry can lead to all sorts of places and we're not really clear what the political effects are," Continetti said. "We always look to the Clinton impeachment in 1998 and we see there the Republicans were hurt in the midterms in 1998 and so I think Pelosi is kind of extrapolating from that, but who's to say history will be repeated if we go down that road this time?"
"I think the Trump Administration understands is that right now the Democratic base is enthused about impeachment," Continetti continued. "If Pelosi gives in to calls for impeachment, well then the Republican base is going to start getting very excited as well."
He went on to say Democrats are hoping to repeat last year's enthusiasm advantage during the 2020 elections.
"If you start down the impeachment path, you're going to have a lot of Republicans very supportive of the president and you're also going to have some independents who currently oppose impeachment saying, 'Why did we vote for the Democratic House and all we got was an impeachment vote that doesn't lead to conviction in the Senate?'" Continetti said.
NBC News recently reported there are 58 House Democrats who support starting an impeachment inquiry against Trump.