Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 08:53 pm
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was inappropriate to criticize the U.S. President while abroad, unlike Republicans, many of whom criticized former President Barack Obama while overseas.
The Democratic Speaker refused to comment on whether the House might launch impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, saying it was not appropriate to criticize him while abroad.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a high-level congressional delegation spent the last two days in a visit to Northern Ireland.
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“Whatever the issue and challenge that we face, the Congress of the United States will honor its oath of office to protect and defend the constitution of the United States, to protect our democracy,” Pelosi told journalists in Belfast when asked about possible impeachment proceedings.
“The legislative branch has a responsibility of oversight of our democracy and we will exercise that,” she said.
It used to be the norm and indeed “borderline treasonous” to criticize the U.S. president and his foreign policy while overseas. Republicans made even mild criticism of George W Bush a career-ender, using the war as a justification (see The Dixie Chicks).
But then a Democrat took office and suddenly the war didn’t matter.
Washington Monthly summed up a few instances of Republicans making a sudden 180 degree pivot as soon as President Obama took office:
“In June, Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) traveled to China, America’s biggest creditor, where he encouraged Chinese officials not to believe the U.S. government when it comes to budget issues. This week, a number of Republican members of Congress traveled to Israel to undermine the administration’s efforts on Middle East peace.”
Mueller’s report confirmed the entire U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia favored Trump over Hillary Clinton, provided extensive details on Trump’s efforts to thwart the probe, and further noted that the Trump campaign believed it would benefit in the election from Russia’s interference.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Ferguson and Conor Humphries)
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