In Debate, Democrats Promise to Make the Case for Trump's Impeachment

The Democratic U.S. presidential candidates promised during a debate on Thursday to make the case to a divided American public that the impeachment of President Donald Trump was necessary to protect the dignity and honor of the office.

The day after the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump, many of seven contenders taking part in the debate acknowledged that the American public is split over the move, with Republicans largely opposing it and Democrats favoring it. But they said it is a fundamental question of right and wrong.

"We cannot have a president with that temperament who is dishonoring the presidency of the United States," said U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of three senators in the debate who will sit as jurors in a trial of Trump in the Republican-led Senate that will determine whether he is removed from office.

In a historic vote on Wednesday, the Democratic-led House voted to impeached Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress arising from his request that Ukraine investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden. Trump became only the third U.S. president to be impeached by the House. No president has ever been removed from office via impeachment.

The Democratic candidates, who have all backed impeachment before, said they would try to convince the public of Trump's unsuitability for the office.

"We have to prosecute the case against him, and that means we need a candidate for president who can draw the sharpest distinction," said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, another juror in the trial due next month.

Democrats have pressed the Senate's Republican leaders to solicit testimony at the trial from Trump's top lieutenants like Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, and John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser.

"If President Trump thinks he should not be impeached, he should be not scared to put forward his own witnesses," U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said.

The debate was the sixth in the race to pick a Democratic challenger to Trump in the November 2020 election. The seven candidates taking part were the fewest since the debates began in the summer.

But the debate's timing, coming a week before the holidays and amid the impeachment fireworks in Washington, could reduce the audience and the benefits for the Democrats as they seek a boost ahead of the first state nominating contest in Iowa on Feb. 3.

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination remains up for grabs seven weeks before the first votes are cast in Iowa. There is a three-way battle at the top of national polls among Biden, Sanders and Warren, with South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg rising to lead some polls in early voting states.