NORTH CAROLINA — On Wednesday, December 18, President Donald Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached after the House voted along party lines to adopt two articles charging him with obstructing Congress and abuse of power.

Related Story: IMPEACHED: U.S. House Adopts Both Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump

Shortly after the vote, leaders across North Carolina began to respond to the historic event. You can read each of their statements below.

"Today’s vote comes after the most ridiculous impeachment process ever held by the House of Representatives. Rather than move on following the collapse of the Russian collusion investigation, Congressional Democrats have concocted their current impeachment inquiry out of whole cloth, ignored facts, disregarded House Rules, and thrown out due process. For the first time in history, we are watching an impeachment process that does not even allege - let alone prove - that the President has broken the law and has been conducted without the support of a single member of the minority. This impeachment is not about Ukraine. It is not about a phone call. It is about overturning the 2016 election and voiding the votes of 63 million Americans."

-NCGOP

“In America, nobody is above the law – not even the president. It’s now incumbent on the Senate to hold a fair and transparent trial instead of rushing through a sham process that covers up the president’s abuse of power and obstruction. Unfortunately, Senator Tillis continues to show he’s just a partisan rubber stamp for Mitch McConnell and can’t be trusted to be an independent voice for North Carolina or the rule of law.”

-NCDP

“Democrats have been trying to impeach President Trump since the moment he took office, and they have made it clear they are more interested in playing politics and further dividing our country than carrying out the business of the American people. Democrats have pushed this bitterly partisan impeachment effort instead of focusing on the issues North Carolinians actually care about like growing our economy, supporting our military, passing free and fair trade deals, and securing our border. House Democrats ran this blatantly partisan impeachment process like a kangaroo court, presuming the President was guilty and shamefully denying the President and the minority basic due process rights. In spite of the lack of evidence they gathered and the facts not being on their side, they still voted to impeach the President to pander to their fringe base. Once the Senate trial begins, President Trump will finally be treated fairly and presumed innocent until proven guilty. The Democrats’ attempt to use impeachment as a weapon to settle political scores will not be allowed to become the new normal.”

-Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC)

"The rabid abortion rights activists in Congress will use any means—even impeachment—to secure their right to continue abortion on demand. Today's action to impeach Donald J. Trump isn't about the Ukraine; it's a political tool to stop the re-election of President Trump and his likely appointment of an additional pro-life Supreme Court justice to protect the unborn."

-Tami Fitzgerald, NC Values Coalition Executive Director

“Over the past year, we’ve seen our Democratic colleagues put partisanship over the American people as they’ve focused on undoing the results of the 2016 election and removing President Trump from office. We had our first impeachment vote just five months after he was sworn in as our President. Since then we’ve had seven more votes on impeachment and seen this Congress produce more subpoenas than bills signed in to law. The articles of impeachment Democrats forced through the House this evening are based on the thinnest record in modern history. They are the result of a rushed process, jammed through a mere eleven months before the next election. We could be ending the year celebrating passage of bipartisan accomplishments like USMCA or NDAA. Instead, we are taking the most divisive vote this body has seen in years. This is indeed a sad day for the House.”

-Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10)

“Donald Trump is, whatever you may think of him, a groundbreaking president. He’s broken a good deal of presidential ‘norms’ during his three years in office. I hear every day from Republicans who love him, and I hear from Republicans who don’t. But nothing President Trump has done has been as precedent-shattering as using impeachment as a political weapon for partisan gain. Those who have issues with the president –his behavior, his tweets, his policies- may find recourse at the ballot box in November 2020. That’s how this process is supposed to work. There is nothing –nothing- that President Trump did that warrants impeachment and the negation of the 2016 election. The Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives took one of their most somber and serious duties and turned it into a partisan game. We’ll do our best to make sure the voters remember it next election day.”

-Wake County GOP