Pelosi Says Seeking Trump Impeachment Would Be Too Divisive

(Bloomberg) -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that while the idea of impeaching President Donald Trump is popular in her San Francisco district, doing so would be too divisive without a bipartisan consensus.

What’s more, talk of impeachment is a "distraction" for Democrats as they attempt to retake control of the House, Pelosi said at a Politico Playbook breakfast interview in Washington.

“Unless you have bipartisan consensus, impeachment is a divisive issue in the country,” Pelosi said. “In my district it’s a very popular issue, but it’s not the path we should be on.”

While some Democrats and liberal groups have said lawmakers should move to impeach the president if they gain control, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have urged members to focus on policy issues such as affordable health care. Pelosi criticized the Republican effort to impeach President Bill Clinton and said she also rejected calls to impeach President George Bush over the Iraq War when Democrats took back the House in 2006.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arit John in Washington at ajohn34@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Justin Blum, Mike Dorning

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