Hoyer says impeachment talks are a ‘distraction’

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Sunday that discussions about impeaching President Trump are a “distraction,” and that Democrats should instead focus on their legislative agenda.

“I think that impeachment talks right now are [a] distraction,” Hoyer said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“We’ll have to see what the Mueller report says,” he continued. “[Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi] and I have both said that. We have voted that way on the floor.”

EXCLUSIVE: @chucktodd asks House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) if Democrats should be talking about impeachment. #MTP@LeaderHoyer: “Impeachment talks right now are [a] distraction” pic.twitter.com/e8tWHcxmZs

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) January 6, 2019

{mosads}Hoyer said Democrats want to concentrate on issues like voting rights, campaign finance reform, health care and other topics that propelled the party to the House majority in last year’s midterm elections.

Impeachment talks were brought to the forefront last week as Democrats officially took over the majority in the House. On the first day of the new session of Congress, a Democratic lawmaker introduced articles of impeachment against Trump.

Hours after lawmakers were sworn in, freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) told the crowd at a progressive event that “we’re gonna go in there and we’re going to impeach the motherf—er,” prompting applause from attendees.

The remarks prompted outrage from conservatives, and some Democrats lamented that the remarks were “inappropriate.” Others defended Tlaib, noting that Trump had made vulgar remarks during the 2016 campaign and since taking office.

Nearly 60 Democrats voted in December 2017 in favor of launching impeachment proceedings against Trump, however the measure overwhelmingly failed.