Pelosi rejects idea of dropping Trump impeachment to 'unify' country
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Congress' new Democratic majority is ready to press forward with impeachment charges against former President Donald Trump.
Last week, a bipartisan House majority voted to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month. Trump has since left office with the inauguration of President Biden, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday she doesn't believe that's any reason to drop Trump's charges.
Pelosi said she wasn't convinced by arguments that an impeachment trial could further stoke partisan division. "I don't think it's very unifying to say, 'Oh, let's just forget it and move on.' That's not how you unify," she explained. Pelosi then said it's Congress' "responsibility" to "protect and defend the Constitution," because you can't just "say to a president, 'Do whatever you want in the last months of your administration.'"
Speaker Pelosi says she's not concerned about a second impeachment trial impacting unity nationwide.
"The president of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection," she says, "I don't think it's very unifying to say, 'Oh, let's just forget it and move on.'" pic.twitter.com/VGfWJF8RdV
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 21, 2021
Pelosi wouldn't give a specific timeframe for when the House impeachment managers would bring the articles to the Senate. Initially there was a delay because the Senate went on a recess, but it returned Tuesday and has since sworn in three new Democratic senators.
More stories from theweek.com
5 scathingly funny cartoons about Biden's COVID-19 push
7 brutally funny cartoons about Trump's White House exit
'No way' McConnell has had a post-Trump 'epiphany,' political scientist says