Were Pelosi's comments about impeaching Trump shortsighted or savvy?

In her own words, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), made some "news" when she expressed her views on impeaching President Trump in an interview with The Washington Post Magazine that was published on Monday.

Pelosi said that she's opposed to impeachment because it's too divisive and Trump is "just not worth it." Though she did imply that she is open to it in principle, should something "so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan" come to the surface.

Whether effective or not, her decision to openly communicate her stance was widely seen as strategic.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Some find it savvy — if she does eventually change her tune, she'll look more credible than others in eventually working toward impeachment, since it will be evidence, not partisan fervor, that swayed her.

But others believe it will alienate the part of her base who greatly want to see Trump go through the impeachment process.

Regardless, there's little doubt that Pelosi's statement was made with future elections in mind. The Washington Post reports that while her comments "won't sit well" with some members of the Democratic Party, the speaker is well aware of the fact that campaigning too hard for impeachment could come back to bite in the form of energized Republican voters in 2020.