A group of House Republicans blasted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, the day after she came out in favor of the impeachment of President Donald Trump for the first time, after meeting with her caucus.
“I think at the end of the day, the Speaker owes an apology to this nation, and I think it’s even in question whether she should stay in her job. We are done with this,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
“What Speaker Pelosi did yesterday really was the worst we’ve seen yet where she announced an impeachment inquiry without any evidence, without seeing a transcript of the phone call at issue, without seeing any details from the supposed whistleblower,” Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney said to reporters at the press conference.
“The Michael Cohen hearing didn’t work for them, the John Dean hearing didn’t work for them, the Mueller report and Muller hearing didn’t work for them, the Lewandowski hearing didn’t work for them…,” Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said. Saying Democrats are continuing to push for impeachment based off no evidence.
Pelosi publicly announced late Tuesday afternoon, “Today I’m announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry.” (RELATED: McCarthy Fires Back At Pelosi After Impeachment Calls: ‘Cannot Change The Laws’)
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) listen during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol September 25, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Despite Pelosi’s early reluctance to push for impeachment, there are currently 200 Democrats who support impeachment or an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi has said she believes Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him because he thinks it will help him fire up his base. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Comes Out In Favor Of Impeachment)
Many of Pelosi’s Democratic colleagues previously pushed for impeaching Trump, including Democratic Texas Rep. Al Green, who broke with Pelosi when he vowed to force a vote to impeach Trump in late March. Green, who previously had several bills to impeach Trump overwhelmingly rejected by the House of Representatives, called for a third impeachment vote. Pelosi said impeachment was “just not worth it” in a March interview.
Tuesday’s comments were the first time Pelosi said Trump should be impeached.