President Donald Trump heads to Minneapolis for his first campaign rally since House Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry as yet another poll shows growing support for removing him from office.
Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at a "Keep America Great" rally where he is expected to echo his contention in recent days that the inquiry sparked by a whistleblower's complaint is tainted by political bias.
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Ahead of Trump's trip, news broke that two associates of his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani were arrested on charges that they schemed to funnel foreign money to US politicians in a bid to affect US-Ukraine relations. The two men helped Giuliani investigate former vice president Joe Biden, though the indictment does not mention Giuliani or suggest that he was part of the alleged crimes.
Meanwhile, a Fox News poll released Wednesday night shows 51 per cent of voters would like to see Trump impeached and removed from office, an uptick since the House launched the inquiry focused on Trump's July call in which he pressed the leader of Ukraine to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
Another 40 per cent of voters oppose impeachment proceedings. The numbers show a nearly double-digit rise in the number of voters who want Trump impeached and removed compared to a Fox News poll from July, which found 42 per cent of voters supported it.
Amid what they call stonewalling from the White House, Democrats are hopeful that Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine, will appear as planned for a deposition on Friday.
Ahead of his planned campaign rally in Minneapolis, Trump posted a video on Twitter on Wednesday night that features a montage of photos from past events with large crowds of enthusiastic supporters.
The two-minute video is set to the renowned Queen song, "We Will Rock You."
Thursday night's rally will be the first since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the impeachment inquiry against Trump on September 24.
It marks a rare campaign appearance in a state that Trump did not carry in 2016. His campaign, however, is pouring significant resources into Minnesota in hopes of putting it into play next year.