Pelosi: McCarthy is ‘playing politics’ with support of expunging Trump’s impeachments

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday she believes Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is “playing politics” with his support of expunging former President Trump’s two impeachments.

“We had no choice, [Trump] must be impeached,” Pelosi told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” “Kevin is, you know, playing politics. It’s not even clear if he constitutionally can expunge.”

McCarthy told reporters last month he supports erasing Trump’s impeachments because one was “not based on true facts,” and the other was “on the basis of no due process.”

“Well, [Trump] was impeached because we had no choice,” Pelosi said Sunday. “He had undermined our national security, jeopardized our well being of our country.”

Pelosi also called the idea of expunging the impeachments “not responsible.”

“This is about being afraid,” Pelosi said. “As I’ve said before, Donald Trump is the puppeteer. And what does he do all the time to shine light on the strings? These people look pathetic.”

During her time as Speaker, House Democrats impeached Trump twice — once in 2019 for his abuse of power when he threatened to withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine unless Kyiv investigated his political rivals, and again in 2021 for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Republicans in the Senate acquitted Trump in both instances.