'OUR COUNTRY WILL NEVER HEAL'
Donald Trump warns impeachment could cause second US Civil WAR in Twitter thread quoting evangelical pastor
DONALD Trump last night warned that his impeachment could cause a second US Civil War.
The US president quoted an evangelical pastor's comments in a TV interview in which it was said the country could be irreversibly fractured.
One explosive passage said removing Trump from office "will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal."
President Trump lifted the quote from Pastor Robert Jeffress - who gave an interview with Fox News on Sunday.
It comes as the president faces the threat of impeachment over the Ukraine scandal.
He has been accused by Democrats of trying to enlist a foreign power to help dig dirt on Joe Biden - his 2020 Democrat rival.
Trump's incendiary Twitter rant, posted at 9.10pm local time last night, began by chastising leading Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
IMPEACHMENT THREAT
Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, last week announced the beginning of an impeachment inquiry into Trump.
“Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats can’t put down the Impeachment match", the tirade began.
"They know they couldn’t beat him in 2016 against Hillary Clinton, and they’re increasingly aware of the fact that they won’t win against him in 2020, and Impeachment is the only tool they have to get id of Donald J. Trump.
"And the Democrats don’t care if they burn down and destroy this nation in the process.
"I have never seen the Evangelical Christians more angry over any issue than this attempt to illegitimately remove this President from office, overturn the 2016 Election and negate the votes of millions of Evangelicals in the process.
If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal
Donald Trump
"They know the only Impeachable offense that President Trump has committed was beating Hillary Clinton in 2016.
"That’s the unpardonable sin for which the Democrats will never forgive him.
"If the Democrats are successful in removing the President from office (which they will never be), it will cause a Civil War like fracture in this Nation from which our Country will never heal."
Trump ended the final tweet by attributing the comments to Pastor Jeffress - a Dallas-based pastor and known supporter of the president.
The US Civil War - fought from 1861 to 1865 - was the bloodiest in American history, with up to 620,000 killed on the battlefield.
Jeffress has a history of controversial and offensive comments, according to .
CONTROVERSIAL PASTOR
He has reportedly made derogatory remarks about Islam - calling it "a religion that promotes paedophilia" and a "heresy from the pit of hell."
Jeffress has also branded Mormonism a "cult" that is not a true part of Christianity - and said "you can't be saved by being a Jew.”
Trump's tweets drew a rare rebuke from fellow Republicans in Congress last night, including Representative Adam Kinzinger.
The Illinois lawmaker tweeted: "I have visited nations ravaged by civil war.
"I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant."
UKRAINE SCANDAL
Trump has insisted the explosive Ukraine claims - first flagged by a CIA whistleblower who he claims is a political stooge - are unfounded.
The president had hoped for officials in Ukraine to investigate Biden and the business activities of his son Hunter, who had been on the board of a Ukrainian gas firm.
Authorities in Ukraine have previously dismissed unfounded claims that Biden, when US Vice President, tried to force its government to drop a probe into his son's energy company.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he put "no pressure" on Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky during the July call to his counterpart.
That call came days after Trump ordered around $400million in military aid to Ukraine be withheld - a move critics say was an effort to create leverage.
CIA WHISTLE-BLOWER
The whistle-blower claimed Trump tried to solicit foreign interference to help him win in the 2020 US election then cover it up.
The complaint claimed President Trump used the "power of his office to solicit interference" from a foreign country.
It was further alleged that White House officials subsequently tried to "lock down" records of that phone call.
The rough transcript of the July call, between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was already released by the White House.
It confirmed that Trump sought an investigation from Ukraine into the Biden family.
But it did not show the president explicitly leveraging US aid - as had initially been suggested in some media reports.
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Last week, Trump hinted he wants the death penalty for the anonymous whistleblower - who he likened to a foreign spy.
He said at an event with US diplomatic officials in New York: "You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right?
"The spies and treason - we used to handle it a little differently than we do now.”
What is impeachment and how does it work?
IMPEACHMENT is a formal charge of serious wrongdoing against a holder of public office in the United States.
It is one of the few ways a sitting president can be kicked out of the White House before an election.
The US Constitution states a president "shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours".
The "sole power of impeachment" is held by the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Congress.
A simple majority is required - i.e. more than half of Representatives must vote to impeach the president.
Then the case would be tried by the Senate, the upper chamber of Congress, where a two-thirds majority is needed.
While the Senate is still controlled by the Republicans, with 53 of the 100 seats, the Democrats have control of the House of Representatives, with 235 of the 435 seats.
This means that it's possible for the House of Representatives to pass a vote to impeach the president.
However, a two-thirds majority of 67 Senators voting to impeach Trump would still be needed in the Senate when it is tried.
Donald Trump tweets video statement saying 'they are trying to stop me, because I am fighting for you'
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