Sen. Mazie Hirono (D., Hawaii) on Tuesday said Republicans are spreading a "weird conspiracy theory" that Democrats wanted to impeach Donald Trump since he became president.
"What I found astounding was they're still saying that we were out to get the president from day one, some sort of a weird conspiracy theory that I have to say, even [Supreme Court Justice Brett] Kavanaugh brought up," Hirono said on MSNBC.
Hirono was referring to Kavanaugh's contention in his confirmation hearing that "anger about President Trump and the 2016 election" led to an onslaught of unproven allegations. Kavanaugh did not mention impeachment in his hearing.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D., Calif.) championed the impeachment of Trump in numerous televised appearances and said she thought it could happen by the end of 2017.
"The President is a liar, his actions are contemptible, & I'm going to fight everyday until he's impeached," Waters said in an April 2017 tweet.
The President is a liar, his actions are contemptible, & I'm going to fight everyday until he's impeached.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) April 18, 2017
Rep. Jared Huffman (D., Calif.) in May 2017 called for Republicans to support impeachment.
"Impeachment will happen if handful of Republicans in Congress join Dems to put country above party," Huffman said in a tweet.
Impeachment will happen if handful of Republicans in Congress join Dems to put country above party. Or in 2019 after Dems win the House. https://t.co/g9U67QY2gg
— Rep. Jared Huffman (@JaredHuffman) May 12, 2017
Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.) and Rep. Al Green (D., Texas) in July 2017 introduced articles of impeachment.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D., Tenn.) also introduced articles of impeachment in November 2017 and shared statements issued by Democratic representatives Marcia Fudge (Ohio), Green, Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), and then-representative Luis Gutiérrez (D., Ill.) pledging their support for impeachment.
Pushing impeachment became even more popular after Democrats won enough seats in November 2018 to take control of the House. In January 2019, shortly after being sworn in, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) said the Democrats are committed to impeaching Trump.
"We're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the motherf—er," Tlaib said.