Nation is transfixed as Trump impeachment hearing begins with the major broadcast networks airing

Individuals across the country dropped what they were doing and forwent their responsibilities and commitments on Wednesday to watch the House of Representatives begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald J Trump.

Millions sat glued to their televisions and computers at work, home and even a few bars as William B. Taylor Jr., the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, testified that he was told President Trump was more concerned with investigating presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son than providing security assistance to Ukraine.

It was just the fifth time in history that the proceedings had been brought against a sitting president, and the third time they had been televised for the entire country to watch.

WASHINGTON DC: Members of the press gather in the hallway of the Longworth House Office Building as William Taylor and George Kent testify

NEBRASKA: Sadarah Laughlin cleans a table at a truck stop along Interstate 80 near Greenwood as the hearing airs on a nearby TV

PHILADELPHIA: A television shows Taylor Taylor testifying before the House Intelligence Committee at a bus station in the City of Brotherly Love

MISSISSIPPI: Cindy Alvarez stretches on the workout mat at Fondren Fitness in the capital of Jackson as televisions broadcast the hearing

WASHINGTON DC: Protesters hold signs outside Longworth House Office Building during the testimony on Wednesday, calling for the House to impeach Trump

The hearings of James Buchanan over the course of four months in 1860 and Andrew Jackson’s acquittal in 1868 were only written about, but when the proceedings against Richard Nixon started in January of  1974 it was broadcast on most of the major networks.

A Gallup poll at the time reported that more than 70 percent of Americans watched those proceedings, well over 100 million people. 

At that time, the House had previously attempted and failed to bring proceedings against Nixon.

That has happened four times, with attempts to have hearings on John Tyler, George W. Bush and Barack Obama also failing to pass. 

It was the impeachment of Bill Clinton however that truly captivated the nation, with the tawdry details of his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky providing a much sexier backstory than any of the previous proceedings. 

More Americans turned on their TV on December 19, 1998 – the date of Clinton’s impeachment vote – than any other day that year.  

NEW YORK CITY: A commuter watches the public hearing of Donald Trump’s impeachment investigation at a deli in the Staten Island Ferry termina

That being said, the proceedings on Wednesday were broadcast on over twenty channels, who all switched from their regularly scheduled programming to show the House Intelligence Committee question Taylor and George P. Kent, the State Department official who serves as deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and the Caucasus. 

CBS, ABC, NBC, PIX 11 and PBS all broadcast then proceedings in full, as did MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network and OAN.

There was also wall-to-wall coverage on BBC America, Newsy, Newsmax and Russia Today.   

Workers at the New York Stock Exchange, a waitress at a Nebraska truck stop and students at the University of Utah were among those photographed watching the coverage on Wednesday.

In Washington DC, protesters surrounded the White House with signs, while local bars opened early to host impeachment parties.

Shaw’s Tavern, where hundreds flocked to watch James Comey’s testimony in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in June 2017, opened at 10am while Union Pub even made two special drinks for the occasion – I Got 99 Problems but Impeachment Ain’t One and Impeach Please. 

Both were available to patrons for just $9 on Wednesday.