It is a "Democratic fantasy" that Republicans would look to impeach President Barack Obama, House Deputy Majority Whip Tom Cole told MSNBC's "The Daily Rundown."
"The only people I ever hear talk about impeachment are Democrats. And, I think it's always for political purposes," Cole said Wednesday. "I think this is a Democratic fantasy. And, I certainly don't see it coming to pass."
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South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn on Tuesday reiterated his claim that a Republican majority in Congress would look to impeach Obama.
Clyburn told
MSNBC's "The Ed Show" that there would be "some reason found to introduce an impeachment resolution," so that history books would "put an asterisk next to this first African-American president."
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic National Committee Chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer, and even first lady Michelle Obama have also claimed Republicans were looking to
impeach the president.
Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, said that if Republican lawmakers did talk about it, it was "usually in response to something Democrats have said."
Even though Republicans had objected to many of the policies of the president, Cole said that "no impeachment legislation is pending. None has been proposed."
On immigration, Cole cautioned Obama against moving forward on his threat to use executive order on changes to the system, and said he favored a step-by-step approach to address the issue.
"I think you advance one step at a time down the road. And, as people see certain things can get done, I think the possibility for more things opens up," he said.
Cole said he also was in favor of a long-term spending bill to "give us stability through, at least, Sept. 30 of next year," and thought Congress should debate a new Authorization for Use of Military Force in the campaign against the Islamic State.
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