White House accuses Democrats of 'rabid desire' to oust Trump

The top White House spokeswoman on Thursday accused Democrats running the impeachment probe into Donald Trump of a "sick" and "rabid" desire to take down the president.

"The Democrats are clearly being motivated by a sick hatred for President Trump and their rabid desire to overturn the 2016 election," Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement as impeachment hearings continued in Congress.

"The American people deserve better."

Trump is being investigated for allegedly withholding US military aid to Ukraine in a bid to pressure Kiev into opening an embarrassing corruption probe against one of the Democratic frontrunners seeking to challenge for the presidency in 2020.

Trump says he did nothing wrong. The Democratic-led House of Representatives is expected to impeach him in the coming weeks, which would lead to a trial in the Republican-dominated Senate on his possible removal from office.