House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) continued to admonish billionaire Tom Steyer for his impeachment campaign against President Donald Trump in a newly published interview, calling it a "gift to Republicans" and telling him to spend his money attacking the Republican tax overhaul.
Steyer and Pelosi have been at loggerheads since last year when the the left-wing activist began his multi-million dollar initiative – in the form of television ads, billboards and town halls – to impeach Trump. Pelosi has called it a distraction, while Steyer said Democrats who don't embrace his efforts are "normalizing" Trump.
"I think it’s a gift to the Republicans," Pelosi told Rolling Stone. She spoke with the magazine in May and the interview was published Sunday.
Asked to expand, she said, "Because people really want to know how we will improve their lives. We don’t really know what [Robert] Mueller has. We have a responsibility, if we have information, to act upon it. But we don’t know what Mueller has. Republicans in the House have completely blocked any investigations—to a stupid extent, in my view."
Pelosi has pointed back to when she was speaker of the House during the George W. Bush administration and warned Democrats against making impeachment an issue in the 2006 midterms. They wound up winning majorities in both chambers that year in an electoral rout.
"If you got something, show it. But I’m not going after it," she said.
Interviewer Tim Dickinson brought up Steyer's campaign and noted Trump has said Democrats will try to impeach him if they win the House in November.
"This election cannot be about impeachment," Pelosi said. "I don’t think it’s in the interest of America’s working families to focus on that, unless we have more to go on, which we don’t at this time. You get the power of subpoena, you don’t know where it takes you. I wouldn’t not impeach the president for political reasons. But I wouldn’t impeach him for political reasons, either. That’s just not what it’s supposed to be about. I think it’s not unifying for the country."
"So that’s my message to Steyer," she added. "He’s my friend, former neighbor—I just completely don’t agree. I wish he would spend the money pointing out the horror show that the tax bill is."
Pelosi has confidently predicted Democrats will win a majority and she will again be House speaker. Republicans have retained a majority in the House ever since winning back the chamber in the 2010 midterms.