If Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives in 2018, they will likely move to impeach President Donald Trump. But, whether they can count on former President Barack Obama to help fight the new commander-in-chief remains to be seen, bestselling political writer Ed Klein tells Newsmax TV.
"In fact, that's [the Democrats'] goal. 2018 is the critical moment that we're talking about," Klein said Tuesday to Steve Malzberg on "America Talks Live."
"If the Trump administration continues to act like rookies and cannot pass their big policy issues like tax reform, infrastructure, the wall and things like that, they could easily lose the midterm elections, lose the House. And actually … there would be impeachment proceedings by the Democrats."
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But Klein notes that any assistance the Democrats may need from Obama to put the screws to Trump does not appear to be forthcoming as yet.
He said Obama is now in French Polynesia, staying at a resort on Teti'aroa, a lush, tropical atoll once owned by actor Marlon Brando, who purchased it in the 1960s after filming "Mutiny on the Bounty" nearby.
"[Obama] took off an entire month without [his wife] Michelle … to write his memoirs, to snorkel, to be by himself, to decompress," Klein said.
"He's not taking any phone calls from Democrats who are trying to call him and say, 'Come on, we need you for the resistance against Donald Trump.' He's saying, 'No thank you.'
"He's speaking to his wife and kids and [his former senior adviser] Valerie Jarrett from time-to-time on the phone. Basically, he's sort of gone underground and he's disappeared from the whole political scene."
Klein said he's not certain whether Obama will be willing to get back into the political trenches once he returns — at least for now.
"He's very ambivalent about that . . . He doesn't know if he really wants to do that because he is the type of politician who does not like to get dirty, up to his elbows in political strife," he told Malzberg.
"Valerie Jarett and Michelle Obama are beating him, 'Come on, you've got to lead the opposition, got to be part of this shadow government,' and he's saying, 'Well, I don't know, maybe I'll do it, I'll think, I'll see.'
"Ultimately, he'll be forced into doing this and we will see Barack Obama attacking Donald Trump on every kind of issue you can possibly imagine because it's his legacy, Obama's legacy that Trump is trying to undo."
Klein is the author of "Guilty as Sin: Uncovering New Evidence of Corruption and How Hillary Clinton and the Democrats Derailed the FBI Investigation," published by Regnery.