While impeachment fever has taken over the vast majority of the Democratic Party, some sane Democratic voices have emerged, cautioning the party that this is the wrong path to go down.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-NJ), who's long been a critic of impeachment, especially so close to an election, warned the Democratic Party on Thursday that they should “be careful what [they] wish for” because it’s having a deleterious effect on the country.
He told CNN's Manu Raju the only way he would consider voting for the articles of impeachment is if something comes up he hasn't seen before.
Van Drew warned Democrats to "be careful what you wish for" and he added that impeachment "is tearing the nation apart. … And I want to bring people together." Van Drew said he would have preferred a censure vote so they could "move on."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 5, 2019
Van Drew made similar remarks in an interview Sunday with USA Today.
“My job isn’t really to like or dislike him,” he said. “My job is to exact as much goodwill and help for my district and for this nation and for this world that I possibly can while he’s president.”
On impeachment, he said it reminds some people "what was done to kings and queens many years ago. Everything our country doesn’t stand for.”
At least one other Democrat, Rep. Collin Peterson (MN), is with Van Drew in opposing impeachment, telling Raju after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Thursday announcement, ‘I don’t have an idea what they’re doing.’
Minnesota Rep. Collin Peterson, the other Democrat who also opposed the inquiry, said this when I asked if he'd vote to impeach: "I don't have an idea what they're doing." And he walked on the floor.
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 5, 2019
“The facts are uncontested. The president abused his power for his own political benefit at the expense of our national security," Pelosi said Thursday morning, announcing the party is moving forward with impeachment. "The president leaves us no choice but to act."
In March, Pelosi was against impeachment and said she would only consider it if "there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan."
She added: "I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it."