Impeachment Has 'Significantly Increased' Trump's Re-Election Chances, Says Tulsi Gabbard

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard predicted that the impeachment of President Donald Trump would only "embolden" him, increasing his chance of reelection and costing Democrats seats in the House of Representatives.

Gabbard, who is one of the Democratic candidacy hopefuls, shared a video on Twitter saying, "In 2020, we will have a new president in the White House. How many of you do not want that to be Donald Trump? I certainly don't. Unfortunately, the House impeachment of the president has greatly increased the likelihood Trump will remain the president for the next 5 years …"

"We all know that Trump is not going to be found guilty by the U.S. Senate," she said in the video.

Expressing "serious concern" that Trump will win a second term and that Democrats could lose their current 233-197 majority in the House, she said "We'll actually end up with a Republican-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House. This is going to be a disaster for our country."

Gabbard's voted "present" while the House voted on the two articles of impeachment against President Trump. She was criticized by Democrats and commended by Trump for being the only congressional lawmaker not to choose sides in the impeachment, reported ABC News.

In a public statement defending her decision, Gabbard called her actions an "active protest" against the "terrible fallout of this zero-sum mindset" between the two political parties. She claimed to have based her vote on what she felt was the right thing to do and not the politics, as per her written statement.

"I think impeachment, unfortunately, will only further embolden Donald Trump, increase his support and the likelihood that he'll have a better shot at getting elected while also seeing the likelihood that the House will lose a lot of seats to Republicans," Gabbard told ABC News Saturday.

In an interview with ABC News in Hudson, New Hampshire, Gabbard said Trump's acquittal could leave "lasting damage" on the country as a whole.