Obama Impeachment On The Way? Texas Lt. Gov. Dewhurst Issues Call, While Fake News Of 'Scheduled Hearings' Circulates

Amid the government shutdown and the looming deadline for the debt ceiling, Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has called for the impeachment of President Barack Obama. The Republican governor’s comments were made on Monday evening, the same day a fake news report from satire site The Daily Currant circulated a claim that House Republicans have scheduled impeachment hearings.

Lt. Gov. Dewhurst made the comments during a Tea Party forum in Tarrant County, The Texas Observer reported. The incumbent Lt. Governor cited Benghazi, the site where four Americans were killed in an attack, as well as freedoms “given to you by God,” immigration and Obamacare.

“This election is about protecting you and your freedoms, which are given to you by God, but which are being trampled on by Barack Obama right now,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but Barack Obama ought to be impeached. Not only for trampling on our liberties, but what he did in Benghazi is just a crime.”

Dewhurst added that he believes Obama “has disregarded federal law” as President.

“He’s tried to do things which are not authorized under federal law, such as with immigration, such as not following our federal drug laws,” he told the Observer. “He’s created winners and losers out of Obamacare where he has no authority, such as allowing for the unions and big businesses to postpone their mandates for a year.”

Dewhurst said he was speaking as a “private citizen,” though reporters pressed him that as the second-highest elected official in Texas, he is a powerful public figure.

“I’m a private citizen, and that happens to be my view,” he retorted. “The man has committed crimes that do not warrant his staying in office.”

Of course, this is not the first time GOP members, specifically Texas Republicans, have called for Obama’s impeachment, the Texas Observer reported. In 2011, Rep. Michael Burgess said he would support impeachment to “tie the president’s hands.”

The news of Dewhurst’s call for presidential impeachment, however, should not be confused with a report from The Daily Currant, which “reported” that House Republicans have scheduled hearings to impeach Obama.

The satirical news website, similar to the popular fake news site The Onion, released a story on Monday that seemed to confuse many when it reported that some members of the House have scheduled impeachment proceedings for Thursday. The site went on to say Congresswoman Michele Bachmann introduced the resolution because of the President’s “inability to halt the federal government shutdown.” The news on the site, which has confused many readers in the past, however, is definitely fake.