Pelosi didn't say Trump will be impeached before he 'gets elected' | Fact check

The claim: Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will impeach Trump 'before he gets elected'

A Nov. 6 Threads post (direct link, archive link) claims to share an announcement from the former speaker of the House of Representatives about the president-elect.

“So Nancy Pelosi stated today that if the Democrats get the house the first thing they’re going to do is impeach Donald Trump before he gets elected,” the post’s text reads. “I think she should retire.”

The Threads post received more than 1,000 likes in five days.

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Our rating: False

A spokesperson for California Rep. Nancy Pelosi said she didn’t say this, and there is no evidence to the contrary. An expert described the possibility of impeaching an official before he takes office as "practically impossible."

Pelosi didn’t make statement about impeaching Trump: spokesperson

During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump became the first president to be impeached twice, first in 2019 for allegedly soliciting foreign interference ahead of the 2020 presidential election and again for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate both times, then claimed a second term by defeating Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

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But Pelosi did not say Democrats will impeach him again, this time "before he gets elected," spokesperson Ian Krager told USA TODAY.

No credible evidence of such a statement exists. A comment from Pelosi – the House speaker during both Trump impeachments – about impeaching him a third time would generate significant coverage from legitimate media outlets, but there is no record of it in any media reports from the date specified in the post.

Pelosi issued a statement on that date reacting to the election results, praising the campaign run by Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her running mate, and wishing for a peaceful transfer of power. But it doesn't mention Trump or reference impeachment.

Then, in a Nov. 7 interview with The New York Times, Pelosi was asked about Trump and his impeachments but did not mention anything about the possibility of another impeachment.

The post makes no reference to any grounds for the purported impeachment, and its timeline makes little sense. The statement that Trump would be impeached “before he gets elected” could be read as a reference to Dec. 17, when the presidential electors appointed in each state meet in their state capitals to cast their official votes. But the House members elected in 2024 won't have any authority then. The new House doesn't convene until Jan. 3, 2025 – three days before Congress counts the electoral votes and certifies the election, and 17 days before Trump is inaugurated.

But impeachment is a process reserved for federal officials, and Trump – who will not become one of those again until Inauguration Day – would have been a private citizen while committing any potentially impeachable misconduct, said Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor who has testified in four separate presidential impeachment proceedings. He that while “technically, it might be possible to try to pre-impeach someone,” he characterized the idea as “maybe practically impossible.”

“The Constitution clearly excludes citizens as the subject for impeachment,” Gerhardt told USA TODAY.

Control of the House remained up for grabs a week after Election Day, with Republicans holding a 214-205 edge and fewer than 20 races not yet called by the various news organizations that declare those winners.

USA TODAY previously debunked false claims that Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin said Congress won’t certify the election and that Trump became the first person to win three U.S. presidential elections.

USA TODAY reached out to the Threads user who shared the post but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources

• Ian Krager, Nov. 11, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Michael Gerhardt, Nov. 11, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Nancy Pelosi, Nov. 6, Pelosi Statement on 2024 Election

• The New York Times, Nov. 7, The Interview: Nancy Pelosi Insists the Election Was Not a Rebuke of the Democrats

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phony Pelosi quote mentions another Trump impeachment | Fact check