Above the throngs of tourists, money hustlers in superhero costumes, yellow taxi cabs, and cold concrete of Times Square, a simple message will appear this holiday season: Impeach President Donald Trump.
Tom Steyer, a Democratic megadonor, revealed on Monday that he has expanded his campaign to impeach Trump to include a billboard over Times Square, where some 355,000 pedestrians pass through every day.
“We’re putting a couple of large billboards in Times Square calling for the impeachment of the president,” Steyer told Bloomberg. “We legitimately feel that this is the huge issue in front of the American people that no one is standing up for what the overwhelming number of Americans think.”
A new billboard in #TimesSquare calls for the impeachment of President #Trump. pic.twitter.com/UGVsg5AVCv
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) November 20, 2017
The digital billboard will display for 10 minutes every hour from now through New Year’s Eve when around a million people will cram into the iconic destination, waiting for the ball to drop.
The billboard is part of Steyer’s $20 million campaign urging the American people to demand Congress impeach Trump. Steyer also ran a television ad last month in which he cited the threat of nuclear war with North Korea and Trump’s surprise firing of former FBI Director James Comey as grounds for impeachment.
Steyer’s campaign centers around a petition at NeedToImpeach.com, which had garnered more than 2.6 million signatures as of Tuesday morning.
While Steyer may not be a household name, he is a powerhouse among the wealthy political-donor class. In 2016, the billionaire hedge fund manager donated more than $91 million to Democratic politicians and progressive causes—more than any other individual donor. Steyer sent a letter to Democratic politicians in early October demanding they back efforts to impeach Trump ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
In fact, efforts to impeach Trump have already begun in the House of Representatives. A group of six Democrats introduced articles of impeachment against Trump on Nov. 15.
“The time has come to make clear to the American people and to this President that his train of injuries to our Constitution must be brought to an end through impeachment,” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said in a statement. “I believe there is evidence that he attempted to obstruct an investigation into Russia’s interference with the U.S. presidential election and links between Russia and the Trump campaign, most notably the firing of FBI Director James Comey. The president’s blatant refusal to separate himself from his businesses has led to clear instances of conflict of interest that appear to violate both the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses.”
Despite the growing momentum for Trump’s impeachment, the volatile move is unlikely to succeed in the current Congress, which is controlled by Republicans. However, with all 435 seats in the House and 34 seats in the Senate up for grabs in 2018, it’s possible that Steyer eventually gets his wish.
