Nancy Pelosi slams ‘pathetic’ Kevin McCarthy for ‘playing politics’ with plans to expunge Trump impeachments

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Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed her successor Kevin McCarthy for plans to expunge former president Donald Trump’s two impeachments, in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Ms Pelosi presided over both impeachments of Mr Trump, the first in 2019 when Mr Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden in exchange for military aid to the country, and the second in 2021 for the January 6 riot.

“The president was impeached because we had no choice,” she said on CNN’s State of the Union. “He had undermined our national security, jeopardised our wellbeing of our country.”

Ms Pelosi said she was very cautious about bringing forward the two impeachments.

“Kevin, you know, is playing politics. It is not even clear if he constitutionally can expunge those things,” she told host Dana Bash. “If he wants to put his members on the spot, his members in difficult races on the spot, that is a decision he has to make. But this is not responsible. This is not about the flag still being there.”

The former House speaker, who stepped aside from congressional leadership earlier this year after Democrats lost the majority in the 2022 midterm election, said that Mr McCarthy proposed the idea because he does not want to face the wrath of Mr Trump.

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

Politico reported last week that after Mr McCarthy had said on CNBC that he did not know whether Mr Trump would be the strongest nominee in the general election, he pledged privately to the former president would vote to expunge the two impeachments. But many moderate Republicans are opposed to voting for the expungement, particularly related to January 6, Politico reported.