Democrats salivate over any chance they think they might have to put Trump through trials.
One of their biggest leaders just pulled the rug out from under them.
And Nancy Pelosi just threw cold water on what Democrats have wanted since Trump won.
Nancy Pelosi spent Trump's first term as the face of Democrat resistance, presiding over not one but two impeachment crusades against him. She staged dramatic pen ceremonies after signing the articles, walked them across the Capitol like she was leading a funeral procession, and delivered speeches about the Founders rolling over in their graves. Democrats treated impeachment like their birthright — their weapon of choice to stop Trump from governing.
Now Trump is back in the White House with an electoral mandate Democrats can't spin away. And the woman who turned impeachment into performance art just told her party to put down their pitchforks.
Pelosi appeared on USA Today's podcast "The Excerpt" and admitted what every sane person already knew — Democrats shouldn't be chomping at the bit to impeach Trump in his second term based on nothing but their hurt feelings about November's election results.
Pelosi admits there's no case for round three
Host Susan Page asked Pelosi point-blank whether she'd back a third impeachment if Democrats retake the House in 2026.
"Just to make sure I understand you, [impeachment] should not be the agenda of Democrats for this last two years," Page said.¹
Pelosi confirmed Democrats should pump the brakes.
"No, I mean unless he — if he crosses the border again. But that's not an incidental thing you say — 'We're going to do that.' No, there has to be cause," Pelosi stated. "There has to be reason."²
She’s saying Democrats shouldn’t try to impeach Trump again just because they don't like him. The woman who spent 2019 and 2020 building her entire legacy around removing Trump from office just told her party they need an actual reason this time around. That's retreat mode.
Pelosi tried to justify her previous impeachment crusades by invoking the Founders like she was channeling Benjamin Franklin himself.
"We had review. This was a very serious historic thing," Pelosi continued. "And our founders knew that there could be a rogue president. And that's why they put impeachment in the Constitution."³
Here's what Pelosi won't admit: the Founders put impeachment in the Constitution to remove presidents who committed actual high crimes and misdemeanors. Not presidents who hurt Democrats' feelings or won elections they weren't supposed to win. The first impeachment died in the Senate 52-48 on abuse of power charges and 53-47 on obstruction of Congress. The second impeachment failed 57-43 — including seven Republicans who voted to convict but still fell ten votes short of the two-thirds needed.⁴
Both times, Pelosi promised Democrats they had an airtight case. Both times, the Senate said otherwise.
Pelosi blames Senate Republicans for her failures
Pelosi couldn't resist taking shots at Republicans who actually followed the Constitution instead of her marching orders.
"[The founders] didn't know there'd be a rogue president at the same time a rogue Senate that didn't have the courage to do the right thing. It was bipartisan in the Senate, but it wasn't enough," Pelosi complained.⁵
She calls Senate Republicans "rogue" for not convicting a President on charges they found unconvincing. That tells you everything about how Pelosi views the impeachment process — as a partisan weapon where the outcome should be predetermined, and any Senator who doesn't go along is betraying democracy itself.
The reality Pelosi won't face is simpler: her impeachment cases were political hit jobs dressed up in constitutional language. Democrats impeached Trump the first time over a phone call with Ukraine where Trump asked about Hunter Biden's corruption. That same corruption the media spent years calling a "debunked conspiracy theory" before Hunter's laptop proved it was all real. The second impeachment happened while Trump was literally on his way out the door, making it constitutionally questionable whether you can even impeach a former president.
Seven Republican senators crossed party lines to vote guilty on the second impeachment — the most bipartisan impeachment vote in U.S. history, Pelosi loves to remind everyone. But bipartisan means both parties support something. Having 43 Republican senators vote to acquit is the opposite of bipartisan. It's Democrats plus a handful of Trump-hating RINOs who'd vote to convict Trump of jaywalking if given the chance.
Democrats turned impeachment into a partisan circus where the outcome was decided before a single witness testified. Now Trump is back with bigger wins than before, and Pelosi just admitted Democrats burned their credibility on impeachment crusades that accomplished nothing except firing up Trump's base.
The woman who made impeachment her legacy just told Democrats it failed. And voters rewarded Trump with a second term anyway.
¹ Virginia Kruta, "Nancy Pelosi Says Democrats Shouldn't Try To Impeach Trump Again," Daily Wire, December 15, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "Senate Acquits Trump, With Romney As Sole Republican Voting Guilty," NPR, February 5, 2020.
⁵ Virginia Kruta, "Nancy Pelosi Says Democrats Shouldn't Try To Impeach Trump Again," Daily Wire, December 15, 2025.
