Rep. Brenda Lawrence on Tuesday jumped back on the House Democrats’ impeachment train, performing an awkward double-reversal after walking back her support for removing President Trump from office.
Ms. Lawrence, Michigan Democrat, went from supporting impeachment in October, to saying Sunday that censure of Mr. Trump might be a better alternative, to reviving her full support of impeachment.
She said the two weeks of public hearings on impeachment had convinced her of the need to impeach Mr. Trump.
“The information they revealed confirmed that this president has abused the power of his office, therefore I continue to support impeachment. However, I am very concerned about Senate Republicans and the fact that they would find this behavior by the President acceptable,” she said in a statement.
On Sunday, she said there may not be any “value” in impeaching the president ahead of the election.
“We are so close to an election,” said Ms. Lawrence said on a local radio program, Charlie LeDuff’s “No BS News Hour.”
“Sitting here knowing how divided this country is, I don’t see the value of taking him out of office. But I do see the value of putting down a marker saying his behavior is not acceptable,” she said. “I want him censured. I want it on the record that the House of Representatives did their job, and they told this president and any president coming behind him that this is unacceptable behavior.”
She reversed her position as soon as the comments spread beyond her home state, sparking speculation that Democratic leaders had coaxed her back into the fold.
The apparent wavering by Ms. Lawrence, however, underscored the dilemma facing House Democrats who have committed themselves to impeachment but have not dramatically swayed public opinion in favor of the move.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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