Warnock on Impeachment: Trump Is 'a Crook' and 'He's Got to Go'

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) on Sunday called President Trump “a crook” who has “got to go” when NBC’s Kristen Welker asked whether House Democrats should impeach the president if they win back the chamber in November.

Welker put the question to Warnock on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” asking, “Should Democrats move to impeach President Trump for a third time? Where do you stand on this, Senator?” according to NBC’s transcript of the program.

Raphael Warnock says Dems are ‘missing a real opportunity’ to win in South: Full interview https://t.co/Bno7UwL54O pic.twitter.com/Q9u4SwSM1y

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 18, 2026

“Listen, Donald Trump is a crook. And he’s got to go,” Warnock answered, according to the transcript. “And the people who are enabling him, they all have to be held accountable. And so we ought to have the investigations to get to the truth behind the most corrupt administration in American history.”

Warnock did not say the word “impeach” in his answer, according to the transcript. He went on to argue that Democrats “have to walk and chew gum at the same time,” saying Americans “are being crushed under these costs, which are connected to his corruption,” and that Democrats must “end this war, stop the tariffs, fix health care.”

Pressed on whether impeachment would backfire

Welker followed up by noting that some of Warnock’s Democratic colleagues, Sens. Brian Schatz and Tammy Duckworth, have worried impeachment could backfire, according to NBC’s transcript. Asked whether he believed it would backfire, Warnock did not answer directly.

“Listen, I can tell you that this corruption is crushing the American people,” Warnock said, according to the transcript. He claimed Trump is “$4 billion richer than he was when he entered office” and said people are “crushed under these gas prices, crushed under the price of groceries.” Daily Beltway has not independently verified the $4 billion figure, which Warnock offered without a source on air.

Breitbart News also reported Warnock’s remarks, quoting him saying “Donald Trump is a crook and he’s got to go” when asked about impeachment.

Republicans seize on the answer

Republicans quickly pointed to the exchange as evidence of what a Democratic House would do. RNC Research, the Republican National Committee’s rapid-response account, posted a clip of the answer on X and wrote that Warnock “wants to waste your taxpayer dollars on another sham impeachment of President Trump.”

The House has impeached Trump twice before, in December 2019 and January 2021, and the Senate acquitted him both times, according to the U.S. Senate’s historical records on impeachment. Welker’s “third time” framing referred to that history.

Warnock’s pitch for the South

Earlier in the interview, Warnock said he had spent the past week campaigning in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Mississippi, according to NBC’s transcript. “Democrats can absolutely win in these states,” he said. “In fact, the road to a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress is in the South.”

Warnock also said he worries “that Democrats are missing a real opportunity to invest in a serious and sustained way in the South,” according to the transcript. NBC titled its posted full interview, “Raphael Warnock says Dems are ‘missing a real opportunity’ to win in South.”

Welker noted on the program that the midterm elections are 16 days away, with control of Congress at stake.

Sources

• Meet the Press on X
• NBC News: Meet the Press transcript, Oct. 18, 2026
• Breitbart News
• RNC Research on X
• U.S. Senate: Impeachment

Reporting by Daily Beltway.