House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Thursday the issue of whether to impeach Donald Trump was not a "divisive issue in our caucus," in spite of a third of her members voting to advance such a measure in January.
Pelosi has previously said impeachment is "not someplace that I think we should go," and she reportedly told left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer his multi-million-dollar impeachment campaign is a distraction. Steyer shot back she and other establishment Democrats who oppose his efforts are "dead wrong."
A reporter cited Steyer's ad campaign and asked Pelosi at her weekly briefing how Democrats are dealing with outside pressures to push for Trump's ouster.
"I think that we have been very clear," Pelosi said. "It is important for us to win this election so that we can meet the needs of the American people. Whether or not the president should be impeached is a matter that is being dealt with in the Justice Department. I don't know that they're talking about impeachment, but whether they have the facts and the law to make a determination of how they go forward."
Pelosi said they don't sit around thinking about their donors. She noted roughly one-third of the Democratic caucus supported advancing Democratic Rep. Al Green's (Texas) articles of impeachment in January.
"This is not a divisive issue in our caucus," Pelosi said.
While impeachment is a non-starter with Republicans in control of the House, a united Democratic caucus could impeach Trump if they gained control of the House.
An NPR poll released Wednesday showed it's not a winning issue for Democrats, however. Forty-seven percent of respondents said they would definitely vote against candidates in favor of impeaching Trump, compared to 42 percent who would definitely vote for such candidates.