Justin Amash Says Nancy Pelosi Wants To ‘Stay In Power’ More Than ‘Doing What’s Right’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been hesitant to begin impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, which has generated criticism from many Democrats. It has also notably drawn criticism from Libertarian-leaning politician Justin Amash, who became the first Republican to call for the president’s impeachment publicly.
Amash has since left the Republican party and penned a The Washington Post column published on Thursday that explained his reasons for leaving the two-party system behind. But although his political future is uncertain, he spoke to Jane Coaston for a Vox piece, in which he criticized the two-party system and the way Pelosi is handling her job.
“If there’s one thing Speaker Pelosi wants more than anything, it’s to stay in power. You can see what she’s doing, for example, with impeachment. I don’t think it’s a sound strategy, unless she only cares about staying in power and not doing what’s right.”
Amash continued to express his belief that as of now, most people in Congress don’t want to change the current system. He said that the right route is for members of Congress to actually debate issues, make tough votes, and come to decisions that aren’t predetermined, but says it’s challenging to convince people that this is the right system.
“And the way our system is supposed to work is the outcomes are supposed to be discovered, not dictated,” he said. “But for a lot of my colleagues, they’re not interested in that system of government, even though that is the system the founders designed.”
Did Justin Amash leave the GOP, or did the GOP leave him? https://t.co/6i2js8l2fQ
— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 5, 2019
Despite this pushback from Congress, Amash claims that the Americans he speaks to want a deliberative system in Congress. He says that the American public cares more about the process than many people in Congress understand, but unfortunately partisans are the loudest in terms of local events, social media, and the activity in politics. Despite this representation, Amash claims that most Americans ?— the people Congress should be representing ?— are not extremely partisan and instead want honest, thoughtful, and considerate representation.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Amash’s decision to call for Trump’s impeachment and his criticism of Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the Mueller report caused a great deal of backlash. He received both public criticism and a loss of donor support ?— a move that appeared to be a form of political punishment for going against Trump. It also supports Amash’s description of the hyperpartisan nature of politics.
