House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday referred to people interested in the impeachment of President Donald Trump as “patriots.”
During a fireside chat before Georgetown Law School’s graduating class, the moderator told Pelosi that many attendees shared an interest in impeachment proceedings. “Because it’s a law school,?” the House Speaker quipped, prompting laughter from the audience. “Because they’re patriots? Because they’re Americans?” Pelosi followed up by asking, sparking more giggles from the students.
The moderator continued with his question on impeachment after the laughter died down.
Pelosi’s remark comes after the House Speaker told House Democrats in April that there are no plans to immediately open impeachment proceedings against President Trump. The announcement came just days after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on now-debunked collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia.
Several progressive Democrats — including 2020 White House hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) — pledged their support for impeachment proceedings, citing the Mueller report’s findings, placing them at odds with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA). Appearing recently on NBC’s Meet the Press, Nadler (D-NY) said he believed the report’s findings could be grounds for impeachment if obstruction of justice by the president could be “proven.” Conversely, Schiff was vaguer on the subject, telling ABC’s This Week last month that he would support impeachment if it is “the best thing for the country.”
Meanwhile, President Trump has said that he is not worried about impeachment following the release of Mueller’s findings, telling reporters at the White House’s annual Easter Egg Roll that he isn’t “even a little bit” concerned about the prospect of being ousted.