University of Florida student government president faces impeachment over Trump Jr. appearance

The student government president at the University of Florida is facing a call for his impeachment over his role in bringing Donald Trump Jr. and Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle to campus for a speaking engagement last month.

The Washington Post reports Michael Murphy, the school’s student president, was served with a formal impeachment resolution from the student government and accused of malfeasance and abuse of power.

{mosads}Those who are backing the impeachment contend that emails show the speaking engagement for Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle last month, which cost $50,000, was funded by using student fees, which would be in violation of rules banning the use of public students funds to support or oppose a “political party at any level,” according to the Post.

“By using student fees to advance his own expressed political beliefs at the expense of the … Student Government writ large, Mr. Murphy not only endangered students marginalized by the speakers’ white nationalist supporters, but also abused his power to advance a particular political party at the expense of the students he should represent,” the impeachment resolution states.

Before the event took place Murphy told the student newspaper, which first reported the email correspondence, that Trump Jr.’s visit was not a campaign stop and did not violate any rules.

The Hill has reached out to Murphy for comment.

The couple’s visit to campus last month drew protests, with many objecting to the fact that the pair were paid using mandatory student fees.

The two spoke about President Trump and his various accomplishments at the event while also taking shots at former Vice President Joe Biden, one of Trump’s potential challengers in the 2020 election.

Trump Jr. touted his father’s work to improve the economy.

“There is not a single economic metric where we are not better off today than you were three years ago,” Trump Jr. said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Critics point to those comments and others as evidence that the visit amounted to a campaign stop in support of the president.

“These are well-known campaign surrogates traveling the country for a political candidate,” Bobby Mermer, co-president of Graduate Assistants United at UF, told the Post back in October after the event took place.

He said he would be opposed to “using student fees to fund any candidates — Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, it doesn’t matter. Have the campaigns or private funds pay for it, not mandatory student fees.”

The emails, obtained by student newspaper the Alligator, show correspondence between Murphy and an official with Trump Victory, a fundraising committee for Trump’s reelection campaign.

A group of student senators tasked with considering impeachment must vote for impeaching Murphy’s by a two-thirds majority, according to the student government constitution. If a majority is reached, Murphy will be temporarily suspended as the case moves to a Senate trial, which must vote by three-fourths majority to convict and remove him from office.