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Partisans double down on impeachment

We've come to expect politicians to be biased, and to varying degrees, the media airing the positions politicians take.

NEW ORLEANS — Even if you don't know the minutiae of the impeachment you know the respective party positions.

The Republicans say President Trump did nothing wrong, and the entire impeachment process is a political hit to boot him out of office.

"They just don't hate Donald Trump madame speaker. They hate the 63 million Americans who voted for this president,” said Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana.

Credit: AP
Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., President Donald Trump (AP Photo / Paul Sancya), House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.

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The Democrats believe the President abused his power for his own political gain and the integrity of U.S. elections is at stake.

"Corruption is corrosive. It eats away like acid, and the longer we wait, the longer we allow for this President to do irreparable harm to our country and our democracy," said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana.

We've come to expect politicians to be biased, and to varying degrees, the media airing the positions politicians take.

Credit: AP
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally at the CenturyLink Center, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in Bossier City, La. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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In our studios Thursday morning, University of New Orleans political science professor Ed Chervenak said voters are increasingly not looking for information, but rather, affirmation.

"These groups are getting different messages from media. So, Republicans are relying on Fox News. Democrats are relying on MSNBC. So, the media is putting out two different perspectives reinforcing people's already existing predispositions,”  Chervenak said.

Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
US President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion about school safety in the Roosevelt Room of the the White House December 18, 2018 in Washington, DC.

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 Chervenak says those predispositions often dictate how we view the world.

"Partisanship isn't just assigned to a party. It's also a prism. It's a lens in terms of how we view the political world. So, if we're on opposite sides of partisan divide, we can be looking at the same event and interpret it differently," Chervenak said.

Chervenak says he's optimistic that some unifying event will happen that may lessen the bitter divide in the country.

The impeachment certainly won't qualify.

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