Trump knocks Pelosi ahead of new impeachment hearings: ‘She’s CRAZY!’

President Trump early Tuesday called Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “crazy” and accused her of wanting to “change our voting system” after she called his dealings with Ukraine an abuse of power. 

“Nancy Pelosi just stated that ‘it is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump’s fate.’ @FoxNews In other words, she thinks I’m going to win and doesn’t want to take a chance on letting the voters decide. Like Al Green, she wants to change our voting system,” he claimed in an early morning tweet, referring to Pelosi and the Democratic congressman from Texas who has long supported impeachment. 

“Wow, she’s CRAZY!” Trump added.  

Nancy Pelosi just stated that “it is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump’s fate.” @FoxNews In other words, she thinks I’m going to win and doesn’t want to take a chance on letting the voters decide. Like Al Green, she wants to change our voting system. Wow, she’s CRAZY!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2019

The Washington Post noted that Trump’s quote appeared to be similar to comments by Fox News chief congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel. Emanuel said late Monday that “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi circulated a memo to Democrats tonight telling them it would be dangerous to let voters decide President Trump’s fate when it comes to the Ukraine investigation.”

Pelosi in a “Dear Colleague” letter to the Democratic caucus on Monday criticized the Republican argument that Trump’s future should be determined by the 2020 election rather than impeachment. She argued that it is up to the House to investigate possible wrongdoing by the president. 

“The facts are uncontested: that the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit, at the expense of our national security interests. The weak response to these hearings has been, ‘Let the election decide,’” she wrote.

“That dangerous position only adds to the urgency of our action, because the President is jeopardizing the integrity of the 2020 elections,” she added. 

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, reiterated the Speaker’s point when asked about the Trump tweet. 

“As the Speaker said, the facts here are uncontested,” Hammill said in a statement to The Hill. “President Trump asked the president of Ukraine to ‘do us a favor though’ pressuring the head of a foreign country to intervene in the 2020 elections.” 

Green also hit back at Trump in a tweet of his own, denying the president’s assertions.

“Mr. President, @SpeakerPelosi isn’t crazy. We are not trying to change the voting system. We are defending the democracy from your corruption and coverups, bigotry and bribery,” the lawmaker wrote. “You are unfit and you will be impeached.”

Mr. President, @SpeakerPelosi isn’t crazy. We are not trying to change the voting system. We are defending the democracy from your corruption and coverups, bigotry and bribery. You are unfit and you will be impeached. #impeachment https://t.co/eULlBZd9Eo

— Congressman Al Green (@RepAlGreen) November 19, 2019

Trump’s tweet came ahead of another day of public impeachment hearings on Tuesday, in which Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council (NSC) Ukraine specialist, and former special envoy to Kyiv Kurt Volker are slated to testify. Tim Morrison, the senior director of European and Russian affairs at the NSC, and Jennifer Williams, an aide to Vice President Pence, are also scheduled to testify.

Democrats launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump in September after revelations that he pressed for the country’s president to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for president. Trump has denied doing anything wrong. 

Updated at 11:49 a.m.