Trump slams delay in delivery of articles as ‘unfair’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump complained Saturday about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s delayed transmission of the articles of impeachment to the Senate, which may delay a trial in the GOP-controlled chamber.

“It’s so unfair,” Trump said at a conservative student conference organized by the group Turning Point USA. “They are violating the Constitution.”

Pelosi has refused to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate, in part to provide leverage to Democrats in that chamber as they seek to negotiate rules for the trial proceedings. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leader Chuck Schumer remain at an impasse over whether there will be new witnesses and testimony in the trial.

Trump is expected to be acquitted in the Senate, where the Republican Party has the majority. Proceedings are expected to begin in January.

The president lashed out at the Democrats who supported impeachment, accusing them of trying to

“overthrow” the 2016 election. “They call themselves Democrats, but they really don’t believe in democracy.”

He lauded House Republicans for presenting a united front on impeachment: “We have to say it was a bipartisan vote. No Republican went to their side.”

Speaking to thousands of enthusiastic supporters, Trump encouraged young conservatives to stand up to the “radical left.”

“The Democrat Party is trying to shred our Constitution, tear down our history and erase the nation’s borders,” he said.