David Axelrod challenged Tom Steyer on his push for impeachment while appearing on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Monday night.
Steyer, a Democratic donor and environmentalist, funded a $20 million national television and digital ad campaign calling on Congress to impeach President Donald Trump.
However, Axelrod – a CNN political commentator and former senior adviser to President Barack Obama – expressed worry over using impeachment as a political tool.
“I think that it may come to the point at some point in the future that some of this will, will lead to impeachment – it could happen. But we ought to give the American people the confidence that it’s done on the basis of facts and on the basis of law,” Axelrod said.
But Steyer held firm while debating the matter on Monday night.
“The American people and the American democracy are at great risk while we wait,” Steyer said.
He continued, “Every single day, we are seeing lawless behavior out of this administration and we’re seeing dangerous behavior out of this administration. So the longer we wait, the more that we decide to do nothing, the more risk the American people and the American democracy bear.”
The two Democrats had clashed on Twitter over the matter on Sunday.
“Dems should NOT commit to impeachment unless & until there’s a demonstrable case for one. It is not just a matter of politics,” Axelrod tweeted on Sunday. “It’s a matter of principle. If we ‘normaiize’ (sic) impeachment as a political tool, it will be another hammer blow to our democracy.”
This led Steyer to respond on Twitter: “Let’s be clear: Trump has already committed 8 impeachable offenses. What are we waiting for?”