3rd District Congressional candidate Celeste Williams on impeachment, drug prices, campaign 2020

Third District Congressional Democratic candidate Celeste Williams says impeachment is hardly on voters’ minds – at least when she speaks to them – but that doesn’t mean she isn’t concerned about the President’s behavior or her Constitutional duty to conduct oversight over the executive branch.

Williams, of Bella Vista, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Rogers, in the 2020 election. She says she would have voted differently than Womack and would support impeaching President Donald Trump if she were a sitting member of Congress.

“Impeachment was not my top priority and certainly not what I hear voters talking to me about,” Williams said in a Talk Business & Politics interview. “As far as impeachment… the President has withheld funds to Ukraine, and then hid this fact, and certainly, I think, really, his own words speak a lot more to the issue than the rhetoric that’s going on in Washington right now.”

Williams recited Trump’s own words from interviews on camera:

“If they were honest about it, they would start “a major investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said at the beginning of the Ukraine scandal. “They should investigate the Bidens. Likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.”

Williams said the core issue is that Trump invited a foreign influence to interfere in U.S. elections, to her an impeachable offense. However, she said she doesn’t view the matter as one that will help her with voters.

“I don’t think it helps anyone,” Williams said. “I think, at the end of the day, yes, it is a political process, and I think that Democrats have been very hesitant to embark upon impeachment because we are so divided as a nation right now. It certainly doesn’t do anything to unify us or bring us together.”

This week, she said one person had asked her about impeachment. More often, Williams said voters are asking her about the cost of living, education, job security and the high costs of health care.

“The cost of healthcare is the most common thing that I hear about and the other thing that I hear a lot about is worry about the cost of college education,” she said. “Good paying jobs, that’s a big one. You know, 43% of Americans do not have an income that meets their basic needs, meaning: an income that allows them to cover the cost of housing, transportation, food, healthcare, and a cellphone.

“While we do have very low unemployment rates, we certainly have high rates of people who are not making an income that allows them to have financial stability,” Williams said.

You can watch her full interview in the video below.