Numerous conservative media figures have responded to the announcement of a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump by calling the investigation an attempted “coup” by Democrats.
Right-wing media label impeachment inquiry a “coup” driven by Democrats
Written by Cydney Hargis
Published
Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich: “This is not an impeachment process. This is a coup d'etat.” Appearing on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich labeled the impeachment inquiry a “coup d’etat”:
Fox’s Newt Gingrich: "This is not an impeachment process. This is a coup d'etat”
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From the September 30 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show
NEWT GINGRICH: I think everybody who is concerned about what's going on should drop the word "impeach," or "impeachment." This is not an impeachment process. This is a coup d'etat. This is a deliberate -- this goes back to election night 2016, their first trial run was the Russian conspiracy, where it was the FBI who were breaking the law.
Their second run now is this totally crazy Ukrainian problem, where it's the intelligence community breaking the law, but the patterns are so similar, I mean, nobody should kid themselves.
This has nothing to do with impeachment, it has nothing to do with the rule of law, it has nothing to do with facts.
...
What you and I are living through right now is the most unconstitutional and anti-American effort to replace the president of the United States, with the choice of the left-wing bureaucracy, news media, and Democrats in the Congress. It's extraordinary that it's going on.
Fox’s Gingrich: “What you are watching is a legislative coup d’etat.” During the September 30 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Gingrich called the impeachment inquiry a “legislative coup d’etat,” because Democrats “wanted to get rid of Donald Trump on election night.” He said their goal is to “drive the president out of office because they hate him”:
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From the September 30 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): If you are the president, how concerned are you?
NEWT GINGRICH: Well, look, I don't think he is particularly concerned about actually being impeached and convicted. I don't think that's going to happen. But what you are watching is a legislative coup d’etat. This is not an impeachment. We ought to quit talking about it as though it’s impeachment. I mean, Pelosi and every Democrat knows they are going to vote to get rid of Donald Trump. They wanted to get rid of Donald Trump on election night. They tried for two years to get rid of Donald Trump using the Russian deal and when that collapsed on them and they looked like they were stupid when Mueller reported, they had to find a new gimmick. This is the new gimmick. But this has nothing -- impeachment is about whether or not something happened of sufficient weight that the president should be taken out of office. This has nothing to do with that. This is a rush to judgment by left-wing Democrats who are engaged in literally a coup d’etat. Their goal is to drive the president out of office because they hate him. Now I don't think partisan hatred comes under high crimes and misdemeanors. And I think it tells you how sick the Democrats are that they are prepared to stake so much.
On Fox, Tom Fitton says “every time you hear the word impeachment, you have to substitute it with the word coup.” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton also claimed that the “coup” needs to be shut down and the Department of Justice should “expose the corruption of the last administration”:
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From the September 27 edition of Fox News' Hannity
SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Tom, where's this going?
TOM FITTON (PRESIDENT, JUDICIAL WATCH): Well, I think they’re going to try to impeach him and every time you hear the word impeachment, you have to substitute the word coup, and the coup needs to be shut down. The Senate should say there’s going to be no trial and the Justice Department needs to go on a transparency tear. It’s interesting, we’ve got all these documents on Ukraine, but we’re still waiting on the spygate documents. Release it all, expose the corruption of the last administration and the coup cabal, that will shut it down.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson: This is an “administrative coup d’etat.” Carlson insisted “it’s not an overstatement” to call the impeachment inquiry “the administrative coup d’etat.” During the September 26 edition of his Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson said if the impeachment is successful, “we’re done, our democracy won’t recover”:
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From the September 26 edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight
TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): In the summer of 2016, the FBI justified opening the Russia investigation, the one that hamstrung the first half of the administration and sucked all of the oxygen out of the city. They justified that based, remember, on Trump’s campaign positions. They didn’t like his publicly stated views on Russia. The views that voters by the way ratified when they elected Trump. But the intel community disagreed with his foreign policy views so they tried to destroy him. That happened, that’s not some defense of Trump. That's an observation of what happened. And then two weeks after he took office, somebody decided to leak the president's phone calls with foreign leaders, the leaders of Australia and Mexico -- imagine that. Imagine having to run the country when you can't even speak confidentially with your counterparts in other countries. How does that help America? It doesn’t help America. You may hate Trump, you should still be against that. But that kind of thing has been happening ever since. Well that’s the administrative coup d'etat. It's not an overstatement to say that's what it is. A lot is at stake here. If these people whose names you don't know who were never elected to anything succeeded in taking over the government and running things in real life, we're done, our democracy won't recover.
Fox’s Mark Levin: This is a “leak and coup campaign.” Fox News host Mark Levin told Fox’s Sean Hannity that the whistleblower complaint and subsequent impeachment inquiry is a “leak and coup campaign” by the Democrats. During the September 26 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, Levin slammed the whistleblower for not having “firsthand knowledge” and said he was being represented by Democrats.
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From the September 26 edition of Fox News' Hannity
MARK LEVIN (FOX NEWS HOST): Isn’t it funny that not a single one of the people with firsthand knowledge filed a whistleblower complaint? Not one of them. This guy files it, this guy who is represented by Democrats. This guy files it. I want to know if [Rep.] Adam Schiff, the Democrat staffers or any Democrats were involved in orchestrating this -- this leak and coup campaign. Did it with Russia, did it with Kavanaugh. It’s the same damn thing.
Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt: Impeachment inquiry is “a coup attempt” and “part of an attempt to take out Donald Trump.” During the September 30 edition of The Hugh Hewitt Show, radio host Hugh Hewitt called the impeachment a “coup attempt.” Hewitt said, “This is not about the phone call,” but instead is “part of an attempt to take out Donald Trump. And it’s illegitimate”:
Hugh Hewitt says impeachment inquiry is "a coup attempt"
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From the September 30 edition of Salem Radio Network’s The Hugh Hewitt Show
HUGH HEWITT (HOST): Finally, and hold this, these are my 10 basic points about impeachment. I may begin every show between now and the vote to impeach the president, which is going to happen, and then he’s going to be acquitted by the Senate. Understand, this is a coup attempt. But number 10, that [inspector general] report from the Department of Justice about FISA and FBI abuse is coming. The rogue FBI attempted a coup against Donald Trump and now this is another coup. Remember the insurance policy? This is their umbrella insurance policy. Impeachment. And everybody gets it, everybody knows it, everybody understands. From the beginning, this is not about the phone call, it’s not about [Ukranian President Volodymyr] Zelensky. It’s part of an attempt to take out Donald Trump. And it’s illegitimate. It’s completely illegitimate.
Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft: “Coup-Driven Democrats Plot Impeachment.”
Fox & Friends hosts “former New York City top cop” Bernard Kerik to claim whistleblower complaint is part of “an attempted coup” against Trump. During the September 30 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, guest Bernard Kerik said the whistleblower was actually “a covert operative that was within the administration” and called the leak part of “an attempted coup of the president of the United States that’s been going on for almost three years now.”
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From the September 30 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Over the weekend, former New York City police department commissioner Bernie Kerik tweeted this: “If a cop or FBI agent planted evidence or falsified information to indict or charge a suspect, they would be arrested. How is Representative Adam Schiff and Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed to do it to target Donald Trump for criminal prosecution? Why are they above the law?” Here to weigh in, the author of that tweet, and the author of The Grave Above the Grave, Mr. Bernard Kerik, Bernie, good morning to you.
BERNARD KERIK (FORMER NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER): Thanks, Steve.
DOOCY: What are you trying to say there, with that tweet?
KERIK: Listen, you know, Adam Schiff got up in an open public hearing, denounced the president, lied about the conversation the president had with the president of the Ukraine, posed that to the American people like the president did something wrong. One, the president is obligated by the Constitution to call for an inquiry or an investigation if he thinks there's criminal conduct by a former vice president — and I don't care if the guy is running for office or not, it doesn't make any difference. And then they attack Rudy Giuliani.
DOOCY: Mm-hmm.
KERIK: If there's a whistleblower here, it's not this clown that wrote this document. The whistleblower is Giuliani. He's been talking about this, the Biden stuff, since last year. Since January of this year, Giuliani's been talking about it. And everybody ignored it.
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DOOCY: What do you make of — we've had a couple of guests on today who talked about how a couple of weeks before we heard from the whistleblower — saw the complaint — that Adam Schiff actually tweeted out things that sounded exactly like what the whistleblower eventually would say?
KERIK: Well, I think you're going to see a couple things. You know, I can't wait for these so-called hearings, because I think you're going to find out there was communications between the congressional staff and the alleged whistleblower. I don't like calling him a whistleblower. He's a covert operative that was within the administration, that put this stuff out there, had no personal knowledge. They changed that reporting requirement, basically so this guy could get this thing public. It's nonsense.
DOOCY: And that looks like coordination to you?
KERIK: Absolute, 100%, 100%. This is an attempted coup of the president of the United States that's been going on for almost three years now. This is just another element of it.
DOOCY: All right. Bernard Kerik, former New York City top cop. Bernie, thank you very much.
KERIK: Thanks, Steve.