Bloomberg told NBC News that the evidence collected by House Democrats convinced him that Trump had acted “inappropriately” and that he would vote to convict the president.
“I was asked if I were a senator, how would I vote? And I’d have to swallow two or three times, but I would say I would vote to convict because there’s just so much evidence that he acted inappropriately,” Bloomberg told NBC’s Craig Melvin on the "Today" show.
However, the former New York City mayor added that he believes that impeachment generally is “not good” and that voters should decide who is the president.
“I think that impeachment is a political process. It’s not good. We’d be much better off letting the voters decide who is president in this country,” Bloomberg told NBC. “But the president’s actions eventually, as information came out, it convinced me that he should be impeached and that this should be a fair trial.”
“I would say I would vote to impeach, vote to convict, because there’s just so much evidence that he acted inappropriately.” @MikeBloomberg on how he’d advise senators involved in President Trump’s impeachment trial pic.twitter.com/bxTn7PTour
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) January 20, 2020
On 18 December, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted along party lines to impeach Trump after he allegedly abused power by pressuring the Ukrainian government to open an investigation into former US vice president and 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, regarding their activity in Ukraine. Trump has insisted he did nothing wrong in his dealings with Ukraine, describing the July phone call he had with the Ukrainian president that prompted the investigation as “perfect.” Trump’s attorneys on Saturday denied the allegations of wrongdoing by Trump and argued that the charges themselves do not amount to impeachable offences and therefore violate the Constitution, accusing House Democrats of a “brazen and unlawful attempt” to overturn the results of the 2016 presidential election.
