AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
The historic vote brought Washington, D.C., resident Magali Gatti to the Capitol. She had a whistle, a nod to the whistleblower who triggered the impeachment investigation into President Trump.
MAGALI GATTI: We should be here because this man has committed crimes, and he should not be a president.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Americans have been tracking the impeachment closely. And today public radio reporters across the country set out to understand how people are thinking about impeachment. In Kansas City, Mo., Greg Sarmus says Democrats are wasting time.
GREG SARMUS: I will vote for Mr. Trump based on everything he's done. He's done a great job. All they have to offer is impeachment. I mean, that's all they've been doing for 2 1/2 years.
CORNISH: In Kansas City, Antonette Williamson is supporting the impeachment. She says the evidence bears it out. What President Trump asked the president of Ukraine, she says, is wrong.
ANTONETTE WILLIAMSON: The proof is in the pudding. Like, just give it up. The jig is up. The cat's out the bag. Like, he did what he did.
SHAPIRO: Malene Morris agrees. But for her, impeachment is about more than President Trump's treatment of Ukraine.
MALENE MORRIS: Because he's doing wrong. He's doing wrong by women, and he's doing wrong by the other people that come into the nation. I mean, this is supposed to be a melting pot of the nation - of the whole world, in fact. Everybody's supposed to be here, not just one person, not one race.
CORNISH: There are strong feelings, too, in Lewiston, Maine. Roger Martel has criticism for both Trump and the Democrats.
ROGER MARTEL: It's a shame that they're doing this to the country. He hasn't done anything to be impeached. You know, he is arrogant. He does speak without thinking at times, and he upsets a lot of people, including myself. But I don't think he's done anything to be impeached.
SHAPIRO: And back in Washington, on the front steps of the Capitol, Mark Kampf of Nevada says he knows exactly how this will play out.
MARK KAMPF: He'll be exonerated in the Senate. It's simple as that. And he'll get elected in 2020. And all these people will be crying again, and they'll be protesting for the next four years. And I fully expect this to go on for the next five years of this baloney. They're never going to accept a real change agent like Trump. I mean, he has shook things up.
CORNISH: Some of the people who shared their thoughts on impeachment with member stations WAMU and KCUR and Maine Public Radio.
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