2020 Democrat: Pelosi is ‘juggling a caucus that’s divided’

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) said Tuesday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is balancing competing interests among House Democrats on whether to impeach President Trump.

“She’s juggling a caucus that’s divided,” said Ryan while reiterating his own support for impeachment. “I personally think that the president has committed crimes and I don’t think he’s above the law.”

{mosads}”She’s got to juggle the interests of the caucus and it’s not easy because there are people in our caucus that don’t want to go down the road of impeachment, and that makes it difficult for her as a leader,” he added.

Ryan unsuccessfully challenged Pelosi for the House Democratic leader post in 2016.

2020 Democratic candidate Tim Ryan on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi facing pressure on starting impeachment proceedings: “She’s juggling a caucus that’s divided. I personally think that the President has committed crimes and I don’t think he’s above the law” https://t.co/lwQSA0sGyg pic.twitter.com/HweuiiCso1

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 18, 2019

Ryan, who is among two dozen candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, first called for impeachment proceedings against Trump earlier this month.

“When you think that the President has committed comes – and I’ve read the Mueller report and think he obstructed (justice) on multiple occasions – we have a responsibility,” he said during a CNN town hall, citing a press conference by special counsel Robert Mueller.

He is among 62 House Democrats who have called for an impeachment inquiry. Pelosi has resisted those calls for impeachment.