House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi may be one of President Donald Trump's favorite targets, but that doesn't mean she's rooting for Congress to impeach the blustery business mogul. During a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, the California representative said pushing Trump out of office would further "divide the country" and suggested it could do more harm than good.
Pelosi explained to host Chris Cuomo why she wasn't fully behind the idea when presented with polls that showed 70 percent of Democrats support evicting Trump from the Oval Office.
"I take it as a responsibility in choosing, prioritizing, what is unifying for our country," she said. "I've hesitated to use impeachment.... I do not think that impeachment is a policy agenda."
The Democratic leader, who has sparred with Trump numerous times, suggested that there was a partisan aspect to impeachment talks. She told Cuomo that she was last pressured to impeach President George W. Bush for invading Iraq, and that Republicans pushed to throw Clinton out of office.
"Impeachment is, to me, divisive," Pelosi continued. "Again, if the facts are there, if the facts are there, then this would have to be bipartisan to go forward. But if it is viewed as partisan, it will divide the country, and I just don't think that's what we should do."
Pelosi, who confirmed plans to run for Speaker of the House if Republicans lose their majority in the midterm elections, said she is instead focused on restoring "democracy." Clenching the flow of money in politics and reducing lobbyists' power are priorities, she said.
Despite her cynicism regarding impeachment proceedings, Pelosi has been one of Trump's most frequent political foes. Trump regularly lobbed personal insults at the Democratic leader during the campaign and continued to lambast her policies via Twitter since taking the Oath of Office.
Pelosi, who has mostly kept her criticism reserved to Trump's policies, responded by accusing him of denigrating the presidency.
"They are part of the Trump administration's unmistakable campaign to make America white again," Pelosi remarked, speaking about Trump's immigration platform.
Earlier this week, Trump claimed Pelosi expressed support for MS-13 gang members.
"And the other day—just the other day—Nancy Pelosi came out in favor of MS-13," Trump said on Tuesday. "That's the first time I've heard that. She wants them to be treated with respect, as do other Democrats."
In fact, Pelosi was responding to misleading reports that claimed Trump had called undocumented immigrants—not gang members—animals.
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