Trump crowd chants ‘bulls—‘ after he says polls show impeachment backfiring for Democrats

Supporters at President Trump’s rally in Florida on Tuesday broke into a chant of “bullshit” after the president insisted House Democrats’ impeachment investigation was falling flat with voters.

The president wasted little time riffing on impeachment during a rally in Sunrise, Fla., which was billed as a “homecoming” event after Trump declared residency in the Sunshine State.

“They’re pushing that impeachment witch hunt, and a lot of bad things are happening to them,” Trump told rallygoers. “Because you see what’s happening with the polls? Everybody said, ‘That’s really bullshit.'”

The crowd erupted into a cheer and began chanting “bullshit,” echoing the president.

At Trump’s Florida rally, the crowd chants “Bullshit!” after Trump rails against the impeachment hearing:

“They’re pushing that impeachment witch hunt. A lot of bad things are happening to them. You see what’s happening in the polls? Everybody said, ‘That’s really bullshit!'” pic.twitter.com/iOV8e0fRLj

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 27, 2019

A short time later, supporters started a chant of “lock her up” after the president ripped his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Trump spent a good portion of his rally complaining about the impeachment investigation. He labeled it a “hoax” and complained that Democrats were conducting the investigation for political purposes.

“I don’t want to go on it too long, but all I’m saying is it’s a terrible hoax,” Trump said after several minutes of airing grievances.

The House is in the middle of an impeachment inquiry into allegations that Trump abused his office by pressuring Ukraine to investigate his domestic political rivals.

Recent polling has shown independent voters souring slightly on impeachment in recent weeks. Among independents in the FiveThirtyEight average, support for impeachment topped out at 47.7 percent in late October but has sunk to 41 percent over the past three weeks.

Multiple current and former administration officials testified publicly over the last two weeks about their concerns that Trump’s allies smeared former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and that the administration’s policy was veering into inappropriate territory.

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland testified that there was a quid pro quo tying a White House meeting for Ukraine to a public announcement of investigations that Trump wanted.

The president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, insisting at various times that he was worried about corruption in Ukraine or that he wanted Europe to contribute more to defending Ukraine.

The House Intelligence Committee has concluded its public hearings and will send a report to the House Judiciary Committee in the coming days.

The Judiciary Committee is set to hold its first hearing with testimony from constitutional lawyers next week. The panel has invited Trump to send an attorney to represent him at the hearing.