Tom Steyer compares movement to impeach Trump to civil rights movement

Billionaire Democratic donor Tom Steyer in an interview compared the movement to impeach President Trump to the civil rights movement.

Steyer, who is funding a multimillion-dollar campaign to register voters and run ads calling for Trump’s impeachment, told “Politico’s “Off Message” podcast” that the opposition to his campaign, particularly from other Democrats, is similar to the pushback civil rights activists faced.

“Impeaching the president of the United States is upsetting the status quo,” he said in the podcast. “Anytime in American history that there has been an attempt to upset the status quo, there have been people within the status quo — within the establishment — saying, ‘It may be true, it may be something we should deal with, it may be important, but not now.’ ”

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“If you look at the civil rights movement, the pushback was not, ‘You’re not telling the truth.’ The pushback was, ‘We’re dealing with it in time. Stand down so we can deal with it in time,’ ” he added.

Steyer also took a shot at House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), saying that she is “normalizing” Trump’s presidency by not backing the impeachment movement.

“The Founders gave us impeachment to answer a reckless, lawless and dangerous president and every day that his behavior is accepted, every day that you don’t oppose it, it becomes enshrined as the way things are done,” he said of Pelosi. “You have normalized this presidency, you have normalized his behavior.”

Pelosi has referred to impeachment as “divisive” and a “distraction,” and urged her party to focus on midterm elections. She said that she does not yet see a case for impeachment.

She specifically addressed in a press briefing last month, saying the push is premature.

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who has introduced articles of impeachment against Trump and forced two floor votes on the issue, has also criticized Pelosi’s comments, saying they “trivialize” Trump’s rhetoric and actions.