Tulsi says impeachment would be ‘terribly divisive’ as Trump’s Republican challengers back the move

Swimming against the current in her own Democratic Party, 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard said she does not support impeachment proceedings against President Trump, amid louder calls within the party to remove him from office.

Moments before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry into the president on Tuesday evening, Gabbard warned the move would only deepen existing divides in the country.

“I think impeachment would be terribly divisive for our already very divided country,” she told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin, adding, “It’s important Donald Trump is voted out of office by the American people.”

The 2020 presidential hopeful also weighed in on allegations that President Trump put undue pressure on his Ukrainian counterpart to investigate Joe Biden and his son Hunter for corrupt business dealings, arguing the administration should publish the transcript of Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s president, “so that Congress can do its job.”

Pro-impeachment Democrats say the president broke the law during that phone call, and that his administration did so again when it refused to share a whistleblower complaint pertaining to the phone conversation. The president indicated the call transcript would soon be shared with Congress, while the White House is reportedly also preparing to share the related complaint, though that did little to muffle Democratic calls to have him removed from office.

Joy across the aisle

Meanwhile, Trump’s Republican primary challengers were enthusiastic about moving forward on impeachment. Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld – who launched his insurgent campaign in February – said the Ukraine scandal “is some combination of treason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors,” arguing it was “absolutely” a good reason to impeach.

Weld’s comments came during a presidential debate sponsored by Business Insider, where another GOP challenger, Joe Walsh, also stated “Donald Trump is unfit,” and deserves to be removed from office “very soon.”

The latest Republican to join the 2020 race, former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who was not present for the debate, has yet to express any opinion on impeachment.

President Trump has called his presidential challengers “the Three Stooges,” following Sanford’s campaign launch earlier this month.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!