According to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Democrats are headed in the direction of impeaching Donald Trump.
Tlaib, who is one of the left’s most vocal advocates for impeachment, told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that pursing Trump in this way is no longer about politics — it’s about accountability and upholding the Constitution, echoing a line of attack developed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who recently declared a “constitutional crisis.” Tlaib said that Congress can’t work on important reforms to help the American people with a “liar” occupying the Oval Office, and that impeachment is coming.
“I think it is moving toward that,” Tlaib said. “It’s going to demand that.”
Tlaib: Impeachment inevitable
In recent days, more and more Democrats have called for Trump to be impeached — not over collusion or any specific crime, but for not cooperating with their show trials in Congress. Although Robert Mueller established that no collusion occurred, Democrats have moved instead to pursuing the president with an independent subpoena witch hunt, framing this partisan attack as neutral “oversight” in the name of the Constitution.
Tlaib’s comments did not diverge from the party theme. The Democrat congresswoman said that impeaching Trump is not simply a political endeavor, but rather a fulfillment of constitutional duties.
“This is not about the 2020 election, it’s about doing what’s right now for our country,” she said. “This is going to be a precedent that we set when we don’t hold this president accountable to the rule of the law and to the United States Constitution.”
Oddly, Tlaib found a way to make the Democrats’ obstruction sound like completely necessary legislative work. The congresswoman said that Congress cannot work on important reforms to help the American people, like lowering drug prices, until Trump cooperates with Democrat subpoenas.
“For me, to fight back against Big Pharma, for many of my colleagues that came there to pass really important reforms that are needed, we can’t do it when the president of the United States continues to lie to the American people, continues to not follow through on subpoenas and give us the information that we need.”
Dems’ internal struggle
Impeachment fervor has grown in the House, putting pressure on Speaker Pelosi to move down that path. Pelosi has kept up attacks on Trump, setting off a bitter war of words last week when she accused Trump of an impeachable “cover up,” but so far she hasn’t committed to impeachment. Pelosi has nevertheless continued to claim that Trump is “crying out” for Democrats to go down that road.
“The public’s trust is at stake,” Tlaib said Sunday. “We need to stop separating the fact that we’re trying to change peoples’ lives for the better, but we have an administration that continues to violate the United States Constitution.”
While Tlaib’s concern for the Constitution is merely rhetoric, another politician across the aisle with a genuine concern for the rule of law let himself be deceived into working against his own party, and ultimately his country. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), known for his principled libertarian beliefs, was widely criticized by his colleagues for becoming the first Republican to back impeachment, garnering himself an offer of collaboration from Tlaib.
Pelosi has sought to downplay impeachment talk as belonging only to a vocal fringe, and for the time being that appears to still be the case. Asked by host Chuck Todd why a majority of Democrats still don’t back impeachment, however, Tlaib stood firm, asserting, “I think it is moving toward that. It’s going to demand that.”
Tlaib became known to many Americans for the first time in January for a vulgar tirade before her first day in office, as she announced Democrats would “impeach the mother******.” However, that goal has so far proven elusive.
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