Abraham is in third in the Louisiana gubernatorial race, suggesting the call to expel Pelosi may be an attention-grabbing stunt
Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Imag With just three days remaining before the Saturday election for the governorship of Louisiana, Republican candidate and House representative Ralph Abraham is pulling out the symbolic, Trump-friendly gestures in order to rally the base to vote out Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.
“Nancy Pelosi’s vicious crusade against our lawfully-elected President is nothing more than a politically-motivated witch hunt and it must be stopped,” Abraham’s statement read, borrowing its tone from that of the president. “She has disgraced the people’s House and weaponized the Speaker’s gavel for her party’s political gain.
It’s not the most viable political threat: Since 1789, only five representatives have been expelled from the House. Three were booted for supporting the Confederacy, while Pennsylvania Dem Michael Myers was removed as part of the Abscam sting in 1980 and Ohio Dem James Traficant was removed in 2002 following his conviction for 10 felony counts including bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion.
For Democrats, the call for Pelosi’s expulsion could be viewed in a wholly positive light: For a colleague to demand the dismissal of the House leader means that they are finally using the majority in a maneuver that carries some consequence. Even if a potential impeachment proceeding is squashed against the hard backstop of Mitch McConnell’s senate caucus, the inquiry is gaining popularity, and thus hurting Trump.
Then again, the call for Pelosi’s expulsion could just be another example of Abraham’s political stunt-making in order to get attention: In July, he offered to pay the flights for Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib if they would leave the United States, following the president’s call for the four congresswomen of color to “go back” to their own countries. Three of the four were born in the U.S.
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