Both the House Democratic leadership and rank-and-file Democratic members rebuked comments from newly sworn-in Rep. Rashida Tlaib promising to impeach "motherfucker" Donald Trump.
"We're going to go in there, and we're going to impeach the motherf***er," the Michigan Democrat said at Thursday MoveOn rally in Washington, D.C., drawing cheers and whoops from the crowd.
When asked about Tlaib's use of profanity in an MSNBC town hall the following morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) responded that it wasn't worse than anything Trump had said in the past. "I'm not in the censorship business. I don't like that language, I wouldn't use that language, I don't establish language standards for my colleagues," she responded.
But Pelosi was more critical of the talk of impeachment, saying that it consolidated the president's base and disclaiming, "That is not the position of the House Democratic Caucus."
"I do think that we want to be unified and bring people together. Impeachment is a very divisive approach to take and we shouldn’t take it ... without the facts," she told host Joy Reid later in the interview, set to air Friday at 10 p.m. ET.
When asked by CNN's John Berman about Tlaib's remarks, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.) agreed. "I don't like that language," he said. "More to the point, I disagree with what she said. It is too early to talk about that intelligently."
"We have to get the facts. We will see where the facts lead," he continued. "Maybe that will lead to impeachment. Maybe it won't. It is much too early."
In interviews with Politico, several of Tlaib's fellow Democrats were critical as well. "Mueller hasn’t even produced his report yet!" Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind said. "People should cool their jets a little bit, let the prosecutors do their job and finish the investigation."
"Inappropriate," Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.) said. "As elected officials I think we should be expected to set a high bar… It’s not helpful."
Even Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman (Calif.), who said he planned to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Trump this week, was critical, with Politico reporting his "eyes bulged in disbelief."
"That’s not language I would use … I think the office of the presidency should be treated with respect," he said.