'Don't Think He'll Be Removed From Office': Villanova Students Weigh-in On President Trump Facing Impeachment Proceedings
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Political experts are weighing in on the news of President Donald Trump facing impeachment proceedings as he says he did nothing wrong during his phone call with Ukraine's leader. Some Villanova University students, however, don't believe this will lead to Trump being removed from office.
Staring down the prospect of an impeachment proceeding, Trump says allegations of pressuring a diplomat to interfere with a political opponent is "phony nonsense."
The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden disagrees, saying in a statement, "[Trump] implored the President of Ukraine to work with his personal attorney to manufacture a smear against a domestic political opponent, using a malicious conspiracy theory that has been universally debunked by every independent outlet that has looked at it."
Villanova University's Dr. Matt Kerbel described the impeachment inquiry as simple but concedes the politics are complicated.
"I think what makes the Ukraine story different is that involves a matter occurring while Donald Trump was in office, involves national security and a whistleblower report which is documentary evidence which has been deemed by the inspector general as urgent and meaningful," Kerbel said.
On the quad at Villanova, a nonpartisan student group was at the ready to help with voter registration.
"What our leaders are doing on a national level affects us," one student said.
The students agree the developments surrounding the president are dramatic but some are unsure an impeachment inquiry would lead to a Senate trial and conviction.
"Personally, I don't see President Trump actually getting removed from office. Inquiries will happen, a lot will be revealed, but I don't think he'll be removed from office," sophomore Angela Sarni said.
"At the end of the day, I think it's a matter of looking at it on your own and saying, 'All right, Speaker Pelosi has this info she wants to move on, Joe Biden has motivation because he's running and the president also has motivations for re-election,'" a student said.
Other students believe the notion of a drawn-out impeachment battle could further damage Trump's credibility.
"I think this is going to go bad for him, personally," Radi Supreme said.
"I think it's a tight situation for him," Gary Jones said. "We have to look at, what does the Constitution say? Could this be a constitutional crisis with what he did?"