Trump's new threat: 'Everybody would be very poor' if he's impeached

Trump delivered a truly delusional message during a rambling interview with Fox News — that Americans could face an economic crisis if Trump gets impeached for criminal behavior.

“If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash, I think everybody would be very poor,” Trump told Fox News’ Ainsley Earhardt on Thursday. “You would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe.”

“I don't know how you can impeach somebody who's done a great job. I tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash.” –President @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/b22iGKE7iu

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 23, 2018

The softball sit-down seemed designed to try to limit the damage from Tuesday’s stunning news about two of Trump’s close associates, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, being found guilty of crimes.

But all the Fox News Q&A did was highlight Trump’s warped sense of self-importance.

There’s simply nothing to support Trump’s claim that the U.S. stock market would suddenly crash if he were removed from office. In truth, the stock market has been on an unprecedented eight-year run of gains, most of which took place under President Barack Obama.

It’s a sign of just how badly this week has gone for the White House that Trump now feels forced to scare the public out of supporting his impeachment.

If Democrats win back the House in November, they could begin impeachment proceedings against Trump. And Tuesday’s news about Cohen and Manafort made the case for impeachment stronger than ever.

“This is clear evidence that the president committed crimes. And that is grounds for impeachment, there is no question of it,” assistant Watergate special prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Tuesday night.

She was referring to Cohen’s Tuesday plea agreement. Trump’s longtime “fixer” pleaded guilty to eight criminal charges — and in doing so, implicated Trump in directing him to violate campaign finance law for the purpose of influencing the election.

Cohen admitted that he and Trump paid off two women who had affairs with Trump, adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, so the two women wouldn’t go public about the affairs during the 2016 campaign.

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani had previously admitted Trump knew about the hush-money payment to Daniels, and Cohen secretly recorded Trump discussing payment to McDougal.

Trump is getting desperate, and he has every reason to be.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.