ASU political clubs are split down party lines following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment inquiry announcement regarding President Donald Trump's comments to the president of Ukraine, .
Pelosi announced the inquiry following a whistleblower complaint filed from an unidentified individual. The complaint is over an apparent request Trump made to the president of Ukraine for information regarding former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.
The reaction from ASU's political clubs aligned with those in Washington. Republicans defended Trump, and Democrats supported the inquiry and called for the president's impeachment.
The ASU College Republicans said the decision to open the inquiry shows the Democratic party is "obsessed" with impeachment, and is more concerned with "reversing" the 2016 election results.
"College Republicans at ASU are excited for the year to come and intend to stick to winning races fairly and accepting election results, unlike some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle," communications director Joseph Pitts, a global politics freshman, said in a text on behalf of the organization.
According to The Arizona Republic, Gov. Doug Ducey made a similar comment to reporters on Wednesday, saying that parties are going to be "embroiled in political infighting between now and November of 2020," instead of working on "something that would actually benefit the citizens of the United States."
College Republicans United at ASU saw the inquiry in a more positive light, saying in an email that it is the "best thing to happen for Trump," and that "Pelosi is uniting our party."
Young Democrats at ASU President Mariana Peña, a senior studying political science, said the group supports the inquiry and called Trump's actions treason.
"Treason against the United States is a crime and betrays the interests of the American People," Peña said in an email to The State Press. "We understand that there will be consequences, know(n) and unknown, for our party and our organization. However, we believe this is something that is greater than party politics."
Peña added that the club wants to be on "the correct side" of a historic moment for the U.S.
College Libertarians at ASU expressed their support for the inquiry on Twitter by quoting the president and writing "#ImpeachTrump."
Young Democratic Socialists of America at ASU, YDSA, also agreed with the inquiry and criticized Trump's actions.
"I think that's the main thing that we kind of feel as an organization is that it's very clear that Donald Trump is corrupt," said Tanzil Chowdhury, the chair of YDSA ASU and senior majoring in materials science and engineering. "Not only is he in the pocket of big business, but he has quite clearly broken the law and very explicitly shown that he's willing to use his position of power for personal gain. As a result of that we very much support the impeachment inquiry."
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that the impeachment inquiry is ongoing.
Reach the reporter at krquaran@asu.edu and follow @kiaraquaranta on Twitter.
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