President Donald Trump called House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “the most overrated person” he knows in comments to the press before attending a New Year’s Eve event with the first lady, echoing a tweet from earlier in the day, The Hill reported.
Remember when Pelosi was screaming that President Trump is a danger to our nation and we must move quickly. They didn’t get one Republican House vote, and lost 3 Dems. They produced no case so now she doesn’t want to go to the Senate. She’s all lies. Most overrated person I know!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019
Speaker Pelosi continues to withhold two House-passed articles of impeachment from the Senate, a move that has delayed the start of a trial that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has pledged will result in a quick acquittal of the president.
Democrats have suggested that there could still be more articles of impeachment brought forth if witnesses who have not cooperated with congressional subpoenas are ultimately compelled by the courts to do so. That is unlikely to happen, however, because of the executive privilege afforded to presidents and the deferential judicial treatment the concept typically receives.
Dems in disarray
Pelosi said for months before launching the impeachment inquiry that she didn’t think it was a good idea in the absence of bipartisan support and also because the Republican majority in the Senate would render a Trump conviction a virtual impossibility.
It became clear, however, that far-left radicals in her party would continue pressuring her to appease the progressive base by impeaching President Donald Trump for something — anything — just to be able to say they did it.
It may be that the “Squad,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and other members of the party’s left flank threatened Pelosi’s speakership, because she finally relented in September and gave them what they wanted by unilaterally announcing an impeachment inquiry.
Unfortunately for Democrats, all that resulted was a sham impeachment that the American public viewed as an overtly partisan circus right from the beginning.
Now, the Democrats appear to have no way forward except to witness the inevitable acquittal that will vindicate Trump’s claim that impeachment was never anything more than a political witch hunt.
Rock and a hard place
As a Democrat lacking the courage of her convictions, Pelosi was always going to be caught between a rock and a hard place. That is not an easy place to be when you are accustomed to holding all the power and going unquestioned by your minions.
If she had held her ground and declined to initiate impeachment proceedings, it’s possible that Pelosi would have lost the speakership to the faction that was so desperate to get Trump once and for all. As a result, she gave in. What else could she really do?
Pelosi likely believed she was acting in her own best interest, given the options she saw in front of her. She knew impeachment was an extremely risky proposition at best, but she tried to put the best possible face on it and paint a picture of party unity.
In the end, she failed miserably and may well end up taking the House Democrat majority down with her.
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