- Washington Free Beacon - https://freebeacon.com -

Sanders: Talking Impeachment on the Campaign Trail Is a Gift to Republicans

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Sunday agreed with the idea that it is a "gift" to Republicans to talk about impeaching President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.

On NBC's "Meet the Press," host Chuck Todd referencedĀ House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's (D., Calif.) comment last month that "talking about impeachment" is "a gift to the Republicans."

"Do you agree with her?" Todd asked Sanders.

"Yeah, I do," Sanders responded, adding that lawmakers should allow special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigationĀ "to go where it goes."

Sanders argued that people do a disservice to the integrity of the process by making a decision on the matter prematurely.

"You can't jump the gun and determine that somebody should be impeached when you're going to be voting on the impeachment issue," he said. "So, I think you allow the Mueller investigation to do its course. You fight against anybody who wants to impede that investigation. But I think it is too early to talk about impeachment."

Besides Pelosi, other top Democrats, like New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, have called out Democrats who are calling for impeachment.

"Yeah, look, I think that we undermine our position as Democrats if we are reaching out now for impeachment, which is just going to whip up more of the political divisions, the political debates," Booker said last month.

The second highest ranking Democrat in the House, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), has also said that the Mueller investigation must be completed before anyone brings up impeachment.