Nancy Pelosi Still Not Pushing Impeachment, But Says She Respects The ‘Impatience’ Of Her Critics
Nancy Pelosi isn’t budging from her stance on Donald Trump’s impeachment but said on Wednesday that she respects the members of her caucus who might feel differently about it.
Pelosi has been hesitant to move forward with impeachment hearings against President Trump, saying that she does not want to push ahead hastily and without the full support of the American people as well as Republicans in Congress. Other Democrats have been more aggressive in pushing for Trump to be impeached for the series of actions laid out in the Russia report supposedly taken by Trump in an effort to thwart the investigation. They have even been joined by Republican Justin Amash of Michigan, but still Pelosi has been hesitant to move forward.
As The Hill noted, Pelosi said she understood how others were more impatient in pushing for impeachment, but she had not changed her view on the subject. In the remarks, Pelosi hinted that there could be a long-term strategy at play by not moving on impeachment more quickly.
“I see in some metropolitan journals, and on some TV, that we are trying to find our way or are unsure about [our direction],” Pelosi said during a press briefing in the Capitol. “Make no mistake, we know exactly what path we’re on. We know exactly what actions we need to take. And while that may take more time than some people want it to take, I respect their impatience.”
“It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s important to our country,” she continued, “because there is great grief and sadness and pain in our country about the behavior of this president of the United States.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's "not feeling any pressure" as growing number of Democrats push for impeachment of President Trump https://t.co/XmzxGqrzTz pic.twitter.com/mhvuTBODlw
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 5, 2019
Pelosi had come under scrutiny for failing to move forward, as several Democratic presidential candidates have been more open in calling for Trump’s impeachment. Pelosi’s hesitancy seems to match the sentiment of many voters, especially in states that would be key to a Democrat winning in 2020. A recent Quinnipiac poll found that 60 percent of voters in Texas opposed impeachment, which could be important in the presidential race next year.
The same poll showed that Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden was actually ahead of Trump in Texas, one of the more traditionally red states. While winning Texas may still be an uphill battle for a Democrat, there are other swing states with no strong sentiment toward impeachment among voters. Pushing ahead with impeachment anyway could potentially turn off voters in these states, politically experts say.
