President Donald Trump went on a peculiar rant on Tuesday during a press briefing featuring him and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
While the event was supposed to feature both world leaders, Trump stole the show with a dire warning to Democratic lawmakers who are threatening him with possible articles of impeachment. Effectively, Trump stated that what goes around will come around for a Democratic administration in the future.
However, Trump’s choice of words left some on social media puzzled, as he provided an extreme example of why future presidents might be impeached: for grabbing an orange the wrong way.
“Someday, hopefully in a very long, distant future, you will have a Democrat [sic] president, you have a Republican House, and they’ll do the same thing, because somebody picked an orange out of a refrigerator and you don’t like it — so let’s go and impeach him,” Trump said, per reporting from Bloomberg News’ Twitter account.
“Somebody picked an orange out of a refrigerator and you don’t like it, so let’s go and impeach him,” Trump says pic.twitter.com/AWftuF9xs6
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) December 3, 2019
The president’s words were confusing to many users on Twitter, who voiced their thoughts on the matter in real-time.
Oh, they lost the audio of trump bragging…oh, shit he’s back. Blah blah blah blather blather blather, blah blah blah “I think it’s a disgrace it was a perfect conversation blah blah”….liar, corrupt, repellent, repulsive, a mobster, an orange out of a refrigerator…what???
— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) December 3, 2019
Trump said someday a Democrat will be impeached by a Republican House for picking an orange out of the refrigerator.
We’re picking an orange out of the toilet.
— Jason Overstreet (@JasonOverstreet) December 3, 2019
"Someone picked an orange out of the refrigerator and they didn't like it." – Trump, comparing himself being impeached to an illegitimate orange. In a refrigerator. For some reason.
— Power VO (@PowerVoiceOver) December 3, 2019
Breaking: Trump is the orange from the refrigerator we want to impeach. https://t.co/D3IMVjtjM4
— Laurie Crosswell (@lauriecrosswell) December 3, 2019
Trump describing future presidential impeachment’s happening because, “…somebody picked an orange out of the refrigerator and they didn’t like it.” pic.twitter.com/psbsN4Zbyu
— hg murray (@spottydoggie) December 3, 2019
“Picked an orange out of a refrigerator”
What the hell does that even mean???#NATO #trump #trudeau pic.twitter.com/qAPx6Ux1ds
— Kimmie (@KimmieM70) December 3, 2019
It’s important to note that impeachment is a process for which the president may be removed by Congress for committing “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” according to Article II of the U.S. Constitution. The clause makes no mention about perishable items in the executive residence’s refrigerator.
Trump currently faces the possibility of articles of impeachment being drafted against him this month, although none of the charges laid out against him have to do with refrigerators or his handling of fruit. Rather, there are concerns by Democratic lawmakers in the House over his attempts to allegedly coerce Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelsnsky, in a phone conversation as well as off the phone, to investigate Trump’s political rivals in order to secure military aid that was promised to that nation.
Those concerns are shared by most Americans. Although Trump has errantly claimed support for impeaching and removing him from office was down “in the 20s,” recent polling demonstrates that a plurality (and in some polls, a majority) of respondents are supportive of the impeachment process.