Pelosi talks impeachment at Pennsylvania Democratic Party fundraiser
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - One day after the U.S. House formally authorized the next steps in the impeachment process into President Donald Trump, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress has no choice but to move forward.
“No decision has been made to impeach the president,” Pelosi said. “That’s a question of what the inquiry will produce.”
Impeachment highlighted the Speaker’s approximately 30-minute speech in Philadelphia Friday night at the first-ever Pennsylvania Democratic Party Independence Dinner. The dinner was also a fundraiser for the party, with top tickets costing $1,000. It comes at a critical time as they try to win back the state and longtime Democratic stronghold that Trump flipped in 2016.
“This is not about his personality or his policies,” Pelosi said of Trump. “That’s for the elections to decide."
“We’re going to fight for justice,” said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.). “We’re going to win in 2019. We’re going to win in 2020.”
County party leaders are hearing Pelosi’s message, and are taking it back home ahead of Tuesday’s general election.
“This is a great opportunity to add some extra fuel into that and really treat this election as the first step into 2020,” said Jim Wertz, chair of the Erie County Democratic Party.
The road to the White House will run through battleground states like Pennsylvania in 2020. But Speaker Pelosi is making sure Democratic don’t lose sight on what’s happening in Washington right now.
“On that conversation,” Pelosi said of Trump’s phone call with the Ukrainian president, “the president of the United States, in my view, violated his oath of office to the Constitution of the United States.”
The dinner served as a rallying moment for Pelosi and Pennsylvania party leaders with the presidential election just one year away, the local election just days away, and the history happening in Washington.