Nancy Pelosi On Donald Trump: ‘This President Is Impeached For Life’
As President Donald Trump and his legal team await the official start of the Senate impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reminded her supporters and critics of the president that Trump is “impeached for life.”
According to The Hill, Pelosi made the statement during an interview on Sunday on ABC’s This Week, pointing out that no matter how the Senate trial is conducted in the hands of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Trump will wear the impeachment label for the rest of his career in the White House.
“This president is impeached for life regardless of any gamesmanship on the part of Mitch McConnell,” Pelosi said. “There is nothing the Senate can do to ever erase that.”
The phrase quickly became a top trending Twitter hashtag not long after Pelosi made the statement on air.
Her assertion that Trump will always be impeached presumably comes as Democrats, including Pelosi, understand that the Republican-controlled Senate will likely hand down a somewhat speedy acquittal of his impeachment charges, which include “abuse of power” and “obstruction of Congress.”
McConnell has already pledged to work with the White House on the matter and several top Senate Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham, have all but dismissed the impeachment articles against the president before the trial even begins.
Pelosi raised eyebrows in recent weeks after committing to withholding the impeachment articles from the upper chamber, citing the need for transparency and for fair rules to be negotiated that would allow Democrats to present their case at trial accordingly.
Well put. Impeached for life. https://t.co/50cMmzPbZc
— Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) January 12, 2020
Not only did McConnell and the president himself repeatedly blast Pelosi for stalling the impeachment trial, as recently as last week, some Senate Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, requested that Pelosi transmit the impeachment articles to get the trial started, as reported by Politico.
“The longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes,” Feinstein said. “So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over.”
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin echoed Feinstein’s request, saying he was “ready” for the trial to begin and said that Democrats “should move on.”
Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, also signaled that Pelosi needs to go ahead and get the trial started.
“I respect the fact that she is concerned about the fact about whether or not there will be a fair trial. But I do think it is time to get on with it,” he stated.
Pelosi recently indicated that she’s ready to send the impeachment articles over, however, she also said she needs to still consult with her Democratic colleagues on when exactly that should happen. As The Hill reported, once the articles are transmitted to the upper chamber, the trial will likely start within 24 hours.
