Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said Wednesdayin a seeming jab at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) that she understood the "political reasons" for House Democrats to oppose impeaching President Donald Trump but urged them to "do what is right."
Warren called for Trump's impeachment in April after she finished reading Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation, making her the first 2020 presidential candidate to do so. Warren reiterated her push for impeachment during a NAACP presidential candidate forum in Detroit, The Hill reported.
Moderator April Ryan asked Warren for her thoughts about the NAACP's resolution in support of impeachment, "particularly because Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, is not for impeachment right now?"
"I understand there are people who for political reasons say this is not where we want to be, but in my view some things are above politics," Warren said to cheers. "And one of them is our constitutional responsibilities to do what is right, and the responsibility of the Congress of the United States of America, when a president breaks the law, is to bring impeachment charges against that president."
"My view is, whether it would pass the Senate or not," she said, "this is a moment in history and every single person in Congress should be called on to vote and then to live with that vote for the rest of their lives."
The House tabled an impeachment resolution introduced by Rep. Al Green (D., Texas) last week. Eighty-six members publicly support launching impeachment proceedings against Trump, 85 of them Democrats. The other is Rep. Justin Amash (I., Mich.), who left the Republican Party last month.
Some Democrats hoped Mueller's congressional testimony Wednesday on his report could continue to pressure Pelosi to give impeachment the go-ahead. Pelosi and other top Democrats are resistant to the idea, concerned it would create an electoral backlash and that it would be a waste of time anyway with a Republican Senate unlikely to convict.