Making the argument for impeachment is easy on MSNBC, CNN, or among progressive crowds and affirming friends. It is not easy on Fox, at a town hall in purple or red America, or at Thanksgiving with Trump-supporting or indifferent relatives. How the impeachment investigation lands in America depends on how those Trump-supporting or indifferent people in purple or red places see it.
This article provides guidance on how to discuss and frame the impeachment investigation in neutral or hostile ground. Our goal is not to preach to the converted but to reach the convertible and sow doubts among Trump loyalists. These talking points were developed with the help and guidance of those who have spent a career speaking to people in the ideological middle and center right.
To view the entire article, Responding to Impeachment Skeptics, please click here
To view part two: Defusing their defenses, please click here
The article gives format, top guidance, examples of actions for impeachment, of the process of impeachment, and framing the narrative
Format
It is most important to provide tight, effective rebuttals during live, time-sensitive media appearances on Trump-friendly outlets. This is also when it can be most challenging. We recommend this basic format:
Set the right goal for yourself: It’s not to win the argument but to sow doubt among listeners about what they are being fed by Trump and his echo chamber.
Lead with a simple unassailable fact (many voters don’t know the basics): The President demanded that a foreign leader dig up dirt on Joe Biden, his main rival, and held back U.S. military aid to coerce this foreign interference in our elections.
Most undecided Americans do not know the underlying facts. You can tell them:
The basic facts are not in dispute by anyone: In a phone call, through aides, and via unusual backchannels, President Trump twisted the arm of the Ukraine President to manufacture a public dirt-digging investigation to harm Joe Biden.
After trying to hide their actions, the President and his allies admitted what they’d done: blocked military aid that Ukraine needed to oppose Russian aggression its border unless it manufactured a public investigation to harm Trump’s most feared political rival.
